Jon Mark Hirshon, MD, MPH, PhD, FACEP, a Maryland emergency physician and member of ACEP’s Board of Directors, participated in a roundtable discussion on Thursday held by members of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee to discuss how to alleviate Medicare red tape burdens for patients and medical providers.

Dr. Hirshon, along with nearly a dozen other health-care provider groups, explained how some Medicare regulations are harming the health-care industry.

“In the emergency department, minutes and seconds count and can mean the difference between life or death,” said Dr. Hirshon. “Eliminating these unnecessary burdens will help emergency physicians deliver the care our patients need and deserve.”

Several potential recommendations were discussed by the participants. They include:

•Standardizing documentation guidelines;
•Eliminating unnecessary and duplicative paperwork and reporting burdens in all settings;
•Modernizing laws such as the Stark laws that are slowing down providers’ ability to fully work together to create efficiencies and lower costs for patients and taxpayers;
•Expanding the use of innovations in health care, particularly with tele-health.

The Ways and Means Committee is chaired by Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) and the Health Subcommittee is chaired by Rep. Peter Roskam (R-IL). Both participated in this roundtable.