A proposal from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), reflecting support from over 300 stakeholders, would reward physicians for their participation in continuing medical education (CME) activities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 688-0223, arosenberg@thornrun.com
 
The CME Coalition applauds the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) for their proposal to recognize accredited continuing medical education (CME) as a Clinical Practice Improvement Activity (CPIA) under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) — a physician reimbursement system created by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). As detailed in the proposed rule (pg. 1042), CMS recommends that “completion of an accredited performance improving medical education program” be included under the list of CPIAs under MIPS — one of the key policy changes proposed for the Quality Payment Program Year 2.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301
 
December 8, 2016 – On Tuesday, December 6, the Senate approved, by a vote of 94-5, a wide-ranging biomedical innovation bill called the 21st Century Cures Act (H.R. 34), which will provide about $4.8 billion over 10 years in medical research funding, make changes to the FDA’s review of medical products, and advance mental health reforms. The bill now heads to the desk of President Obama, who is expected to sign the measure into law. The bill passed the House of Representatives last week.

In an overwhelming display of support for the value of continuing medical education (CME), over 300 stakeholders submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) suggesting the agency should adopt new incentives to motivate physicians to participate in CME activities.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301, arosenberg@thornrun.com
 
Several hundred leading healthcare practitioners, plus scores of stakeholder groups representing millions of the nation’s healthcare providers, submitted comments in support of encouraging the use of accredited CME to improve the quality of healthcare under the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), according to analysis conducted by the CME Coalition. Over 300 endorsements for CME were submitted in response to CMS’ call for public comment on implementation of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), including comments from leading physician groups, CME providers, and other stakeholders.

​Anti-industry activists continue to mislead the public about the rules and regulations governing accredited continuing medical education (CME) in order to promote their “pharma-scare” narrative. On the contrary, accredited CME is the trusted mainstay of post-graduate physician learning and provides the primary means by which innovation and discovery are brought to the patient bedside. 
 
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301

December 17, 2015 – Today, the CME Coalition responded to an opinion piece written by noted critics of continuing medical education (CME) affiliated with the group, Pharmed Out, in the Journal of Medical Ethics.
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According to CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andrew Rosenberg, “It is becoming tiresome to have to respond to this continuous barrage of misinformation and outright untruths from PharmedOut, but we feel compelled to again correct the record.”

In response to an overwhelming outpouring of stakeholder comments, CMS redefined its Open Payment reporting rules to specifically exclude the vast majority of CME payments, including speaker-related payments and tuition support for attendees, so long as they follow CME guidelines and are, therefore, not directed by a commercial supporter. Although CMS deleted the section of a previous rule that defined a limited CME reporting exclusion for CME payments for certain accredited programs, the new rule sets reasonable criteria for determining which CME-related payments need not be reported.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Andrew Rosenberg, (202) 247-6301, arosenberg@thornrun.com

On October 31st, CMS announced that the section of last year’s Open Payments rule that created a special CME exemption was eliminated. In its place, CMS provided redefined and pre-existing reporting rules that specifically exclude CME payments, including speaker-related payments and tuition support for attendees, so long as they are not directed by a commercial supporter and otherwise do not meet the definition of an indirect payment under§403.904(i)(1).