Government Accountability Office Makes PTAC Appointments

WASHINGTON, Oct. 18 -- The Government Accountability Office issued the following news release:

Gene L. Dodaro, Comptroller General of the United States and head of the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), today announced the appointment of two new members to the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). He also reappointed two current members.

"PTAC's evaluations of newly proposed models for paying physicians who provide Medicare services are vitally important as Medicare continues to move towards a focus on value for every dollar spent. We had a strong group of candidates who applied this year, and I am very pleased to announce this latest round of appointments," Dodaro said.

The newly appointed members are Angelo Sinopoli, MD, Chief Clinical Officer at Prisma Health and President and CEO of the Care Coordination Institute in South Carolina, and Jennifer Wiler, MD, MBA, Executive Vice Chair and Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO. Their terms will expire in October 2021.

The reappointed members, whose terms will also expire in October 2021, are Jeffrey Bailet, MD (Chair), otolaryngologist and Executive Vice President, Health Care Quality and Affordability, Blue Shield of California, and Kavita Patel, MD, MSHS, doctor of internal medicine and Nonresident Fellow and Managing Director at the Brookings Institution.

Congress established PTAC in 2015 to provide comments and recommendations to the Secretary of Health and Human Services on physician payment models. The Comptroller General is responsible for appointing members to the committee.

Commissioners whose terms will expire in October 2019 are Paul N. Casale, MD, MPH, interventional cardiologist and Executive Director, New York Quality Care; Tim Ferris, MD, MPH, primary care internal medicine physician and CEO, Massachusetts General Physicians Organization; and Bruce Steinwald, MBA, private consultant.

Commissioners whose terms will expire in October 2020 are Rhonda M. Medows, MD, Executive Vice President of Population Health, Providence Health & Services; Harold D. Miller, President and CEO, Center for Healthcare Quality and Payment Reform; Len M. Nichols, PhD, Director, Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, George Mason University; and Grace Terrell, MD, MMM, doctor of internal medicine and CEO, Envision Genomics.

For more information about PTAC, contact Sarah Selenich, Designated Federal Officer for PTAC, at (202) 260-6397 or email PTAC@hhs.gov. Other calls should be directed to Chuck Young in GAO's Office of Public Affairs at (202) 512-4800. The official announcement will be published in the Federal Register. Brief biographies of the new commission members follow:

Angelo Sinopoli, MD, is the Chief Clinical Officer at Prisma Health, an integrated health system in South Carolina, where he oversees care delivery, population health, and the system's transition to value-based care. In addition, he serves as the President and CEO of the Care Coordination Institute, which provides support services for care transformation and population health to clinically integrated networks, accountable care organizations, integrated delivery systems, and other healthcare providers and organizations. Dr. Sinopoli is a member of the guiding committee of the CMS Health Care Payment Learning and Action Network and serves on the executive committee of the Health Care Transformation Task Force. Dr. Sinopoli received his medical degree from the Medical University of South Carolina. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at the Greenville Hospital System and his fellowship in pulmonary and critical medicine at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine.

Jennifer Wiler, MD, MBA, is the Executive Vice Chair and Professor in the Department of Emergency Medicine at the University of Colorado School of Medicine in Aurora, CO, as well as a practicing emergency medicine physician. In addition, she is the Co-founder and Executive Medical Director of UCHealth CARE Innovation Center, an organization within the University of Colorado health system that is developing, testing, and implementing digital health solutions to improve healthcare. Dr. Wiler is Vice Chair of the Professional Liability Insurance Workgroup within the American Medical Association's Resource-based Relative Value Scale Update Committee. She is also Chair of the Payment Policy Subcommittee within the American College of Emergency Physicians' Reimbursement Committee. Dr. Wiler received her medical and business degrees from the University at Buffalo School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences and the University at Buffalo School of Management, respectively. She completed her residency in emergency medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine.