Vizient, Inc. Deeply Concerned that Proposed CMS Rules Will Harm Hospitals and Negatively Impact Patient Care

Business Wire

IRVING, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Vizient, Inc., today submitted comments to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) regarding two proposed rules: (1) the annual hospital outpatient prospective payment (OPPS) and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment systems and (2) the annual physician fee schedule (PFS) regulation for 2018. Vizient previously expressed concern with various elements of these proposed rules and continues to oppose several policies that would have a significant, negative impact on our members and the patients they serve.

In the OPPS/ASC comments, Vizient strongly opposes the drastic payment cuts to hospitals in the 340B Drug Pricing Program, and urges CMS to rescind their proposal. CMS needs to protect providers that are positively impacting patients and the health care industry by continuing to adequately reimburse for drugs purchased under the 340B program, so that our nation’s safety-net hospitals and providers can continue to operate in the areas of our country that need them most.

Vizient also opposes the proposed “site-neutral” payment cuts included in the PFS rule. Hospital-level outpatient care is critical in communities all across the country. Areas with already limited sources of health care will bear the brunt of this proposal, as well as the patients that rely on the services provided by our member hospitals. Vizient recommends that CMS establish a workable payment policy for future years when the agency has more accurate data and can ensure equivalent overall payment for services, regardless of setting.

Vizient applauds CMS’s request for comments regarding Medicare Part B payment policy for biosimilars. We recommend that biosimilar payment policy is revised with an approach that strikes the best balance of lowering the cost of critical biologic therapies, while encouraging continued investment in this formative market. The challenges facing the health care market place in relation to high cost new drugs, orphan drugs, biosimilars, generic drug price increases, and drug shortages all stem from the fact that no mechanism exists by which the true value of these agents can be defined.

Vizient is the nation’s largest health care performance improvement company serving a diverse membership that includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated health care delivery networks and non-acute health care providers.

About Vizient, Inc.

Vizient, Inc., the largest member-driven health care performance improvement company in the country, provides innovative data-driven solutions, expertise and collaborative opportunities that lead to improved patient outcomes and lower costs. Vizient’s diverse membership base includes academic medical centers, pediatric facilities, community hospitals, integrated health delivery networks and non-acute health care providers and represents more than $100 billion in annual purchasing volume. The Vizient brand identity represents the integration of VHA Inc., University HealthSystem Consortium and Novation, which combined in 2015, as well as MedAssets’ Spend and Clinical Resource Management (SCM) segment, including Sg2, which was acquired in 2016. In 2017, Vizient again received a World’s Most Ethical Company designation from the Ethisphere Institute. Vizient’s headquarters are in Irving, Texas, with locations in Chicago and other cities across the United States. Please visit www.vizientinc.com as well as our newsroom, blog, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube pages for more information about the company.