The CME Coalition has submitted comments to Reps. Diana DeGette (D-CO) and Fred Upton (R-MI) in response to their solicitation for comments on ‘Cures 2.0’ — an important next step in their efforts to advance medical research and foster innovation.  As the letter points out, policymakers have increasingly recognized that there is an important role for enhanced provider education to address discrete policy challenges.

​At the 17th Annual Independent Medical Education and Grants Summit, CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andy Rosenberg and Rockpointe’s Tom Sullivan gave a “Washington Update” regarding the latest political implications for the CME enterprise. 

On September 23, 2019, the CME Coalition submitted a comment letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on the agency’s proposed revisions to payment policies under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), encouraging the agency to consider the role of CME for quality improvement in future rulemakings on the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Value Pathways (MVP). The letter complimented CMS’ acknowledgement of continuing medical education as a part of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Risk Evaluation and Mitigation Strategy (REMS) for opioid analgesics, noting that the rule will bolster participation in programs to inform providers about the risks associated with opioids. The CME Coalition also applauded the clarity CMS seeks to achieve by consolidating the “accredited/certified” and “unaccredited/non-certified” CME program categories in Open Payments to match the statutory language of “medical education programs.”  “CME is crucial for quality improvement and we appreciate CMS making physicians’ lifelong learning a priority,” wrote CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andrew Rosenberg.

At the 17th Annual Independent Medical Education and Grants Summit, CME Coalition Senior Advisor Andy Rosenberg joined a panel of industry experts to discuss how CME providers can repackage their programs to achieve MIPS compliance and ensure physicians receive Medicare reimbursement credit for their participation in your programs. A slide deck for the presentation can be accessed here. 

At the Alliance for Continuing Education in the Health Professions 2019 Annual Conference, CME Coalition's Andy Rosenberg and Tom Sullivan provided an update on the major legislative and regulatory issues that the Coalition has been engaged in throughout this year. A slide deck for the presentation can be accessed here.