Transcript Slide 1
The Hospital’s Bottom Line in an Era of Value-Based Purchasing A webinar for Philips customers that tells you what Medicare is planning and what it means for you… June 23, 2008 The Hospital’s Bottom Line in an Era of Value-Based Purchasing Presenters: Thomas Valuck, MD, JD, Medical Officer & Senior Adviser, Center for Medicare Management, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Washington, DC Ann Edwards, Director, Health Industries Advisory Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hartford, CT Moderator: Laurel Sweeney, Senior Director, Reimbursement and Legislative Affairs, Philips Healthcare, Andover, MA CONFIDENTIAL June 23, 2008 2 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services CMS’ Progress Toward Implementing Value-Based Purchasing Thomas B. Valuck, MD, JD Medical Officer & Senior Adviser Center for Medicare Management Procurement Sensitive Presentation Overview CMS’ Value-Based Purchasing (VBP) Principles CMS’ VBP Demonstrations and Pilots CMS’ VBP Programs Value-Driven Health Care Horizon Scanning and Opportunities for Participation Procurement Sensitive CMS’ Quality Improvement Roadmap Vision: The right care for every person every time Make care: Safe Effective Efficient Patient-centered Timely Equitable Procurement Sensitive CMS’ Quality Improvement Roadmap Strategies Work through partnerships Measure quality and report comparative results Value-Based Purchasing: improve quality and avoid unnecessary costs Encourage adoption of effective health information technology Promote innovation and the evidence base for effective use of technology Procurement Sensitive What Does VBP Mean to CMS? Transforming Medicare from a passive payer to an active purchaser of higher quality, more efficient health care Tools and initiatives for promoting better quality, while avoiding unnecessary costs Tools: measurement, payment incentives, public reporting, conditions of participation, coverage policy, QIO program Initiatives: pay for reporting, pay for performance, gainsharing, competitive bidding, coverage decisions, direct provider support Procurement Sensitive Why VBP? Improve Quality Quality improvement opportunity Wennberg’s Dartmouth Atlas on variation in care McGlynn’s NEJM findings on lack of evidence-based care IOM’s Crossing the Quality Chasm findings Avoid Unnecessary Costs Medicare’s various fee-for-service fee schedules and prospective payment systems are based on resource consumption and quantity of care, NOT quality or unnecessary costs avoided Payment systems’ incentives are not aligned Procurement Sensitive Practice Variation Practice Variation Why VBP? Medicare Solvency and Beneficiary Impact Expenditures up from $219 billion in 2000 to a projected $486 billion in 2009 Part A Trust Fund Excess of expenditures over tax income in 2007 Projected to be depleted by 2019 Part B Trust Fund Expenditures increasing 11% per year over the last 6 years Medicare premiums, deductibles, and cost-sharing are projected to consume 28% of the average beneficiaries’ Social Security check in 2010 Procurement Sensitive Workers per Medicare Beneficiary Selected Years 200 in millions 150 Covered Workers 100 Part A enrollment 50 0 Worker to Beneficiary Ratio 1966 2008 2028 4.46 3.39 2.49 Source: OACT CMS and SSA Under Current Law, Medicare Will Place An Unprecedented Strain on the Federal Budget 12% Historical Estimated Total expenditures Percentage of GDP 9% HI deficit 6% General revenue transfers State transfers 3% Premiums 0% 1966 Tax on benefits 1976 1986 1996 2006 2016 2026 Calendar year Source: 2008 Trustees Report Payroll taxes 2036 2046 2056 2066 2076 Support for VBP President’s Budget FYs 2006-09 Congressional Interest in P4P and Other Value-Based Purchasing Tools BIPA, MMA, DRA, TRCHA, MMSEA MedPAC Reports to Congress P4P recommendations related to quality, efficiency, health information technology, and payment reform IOM Reports P4P recommendations in To Err Is Human and Crossing the Quality Chasm Report, Rewarding Provider Performance: Aligning Incentives in Medicare Private Sector Private health plans Employer coalitions Procurement Sensitive VBP Demonstrations and Pilots Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration Physician Group Practice Demonstration Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration Nursing Home Value-Based Purchasing Demonstration Home Health Pay-for-Performance Demonstration ESRD Bundled Payment Demonstration ESRD Disease Management Demonstration Procurement Sensitive VBP Demonstrations and Pilots Medicare Health Support Pilots Care Management for High-Cost Beneficiaries Demonstration Medicare Healthcare Quality Demonstration Gainsharing Demonstrations Accountable Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Better Quality Information (BQI) Pilots Electronic Health Records (EHR) Demonstration Medical Home Demonstration Procurement Sensitive Premier Hospital Quality Incentive Demonstration CMS/Premier HQID Project Participants Composite Quality Score: Trend of Quarterly Median (5th Decile) by Clinical Focus Area October 1, 2003 - September 30, 2006 (Year 1 and Year 2 Final Data, and Yr 3 Preliminary) 75% 70% 65% 60% 85.13% 86.69% 88.68% 90.93% 91.63% 93.40% 95.20% 95.92% 96.05% 96.89% 97.50% 97.7264% 80% 63.96% 68.11% 73.05% 76.14% 78.22% 81.57% 82.98% 84.38% 86.73% 88.79% 90.00% 89.9371% 85% 70.00% 73.06% 78.07% 80.00% 82.49% 82.72% 84.81% 86.30% 88.54% 89.28% 90.09% 91.4013% 90% 85.14% 85.92% 89.45% 90.57% 93.70% 94.89% 96.16% 97.01% 96.77% 98.28% 98.44% 98.3777% 95% 89.62% 89.95% 91.50% 92.55% 93.50% 93.36% 95.08% 95.77% 95.98% 96.14% 96.84% 96.7644% 100% 55% AMI CABG Pneumonia Heart Failure Hip and Knee Clinical Focus Area 4Q03 1Q04 2Q04 3Q04 4Q04 1Q05 2Q05 3Q05 4Q05 1Q06 2Q06 3Q06 VBP Programs Hospital Quality Initiative: Inpatient & Outpatient Hospital VBP Plan & Report to Congress Hospital-Acquired Conditions & Present on Admission Indicator Physician Voluntary Reporting Program Physician Quality Reporting Initiative Physician Resource Use Home Health Care Pay for Reporting Medicaid Procurement Sensitive VBP Initiatives Hospital-Acquired Conditions and Present on Admission Indicator Reporting Procurement Sensitive The HAC Problem The IOM estimated in 1999 that as many as 98,000 Americans die each year as a result of medical errors Total national costs of these errors estimated at $17-29 billion IOM: To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System, November 1999. Available at: http://www.iom.edu/Object.File/Master/4/117/ToErr-8pager.pdf. Procurement Sensitive The HAC Problem In 2000, CDC estimated that hospitalacquired infections add nearly $5 billion to U.S. health care costs annually Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Press Release, March 2000. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/od/oc/media/pressrel/r2k0306b.htm. A 2007 study found that, in 2002, 1.7 million hospital-acquired infections were associated with 99,000 deaths Klevens et al. Estimating Health Care-Associated Infections and Deaths in U.S. Hospitals, 2002. Public Health Reports. March-April 2007. Volume 122. Procurement Sensitive The HAC Problem A 2007 Leapfrog Group survey of 1,256 hospitals found that 87% of those hospitals do not consistently follow recommendations to prevent many of the most common hospital-acquired infections 2007 Leapfrog Group Hospital Survey. The Leapfrog Group 2007. Available at: http://www.leapfroggroup.org/media/file/Leapfrog_hospital_acquired_ infections_release.pdf Procurement Sensitive Statutory Authority: DRA Section 5001(c) Beginning October 1, 2007, IPPS hospitals were required to submit data on their claims for payment indicating whether diagnoses were present on admission (POA) Beginning October 1, 2008, CMS cannot assign a case to a higher DRG based on the occurrence of one of the selected conditions, if that condition was acquired during the hospitalization Procurement Sensitive Statutory Selection Criteria CMS must select conditions that are: 1. High cost, high volume, or both 2. Assigned to a higher paying DRG when present as a secondary diagnosis 3. Reasonably preventable through the application of evidence-based guidelines Procurement Sensitive MS-DRG Assignment (Examples for a single secondary diagnosis) Principal Diagnosis: MS-DRG 066 Stroke without CC/MCC Principal Diagnosis: MS-DRG 065 Stroke with CC Example Secondary Diagnosis: Injury due to a fall (code 836.4 (CC)) Principal Diagnosis: MS-DRG 065 Stroke with CC Example Secondary Diagnosis: Injury due to a fall (code 836.4 (CC)) Principal Diagnosis: MS-DRG 064 Stroke with MCC Example Secondary Diagnosis: Stage III pressure ulcer (code 707.23 (MCC)) Principal Diagnosis: MS-DRG 064 Stroke with MCC Example Secondary Diagnosis: Stage III pressure ulcer (code 707.23 (MCC)) POA Status of Secondary Diagnosis Average Payment -- $5,347.98 Y $6,177.43 N $5,347.98 Y $8,030.28 N $5,347.98 HACs Selected During IPPS FY 2008 Rulemaking Foreign object retained after surgery Air embolism Blood incompatibility Catheter-associated urinary tract infection Vascular catheter-associated infection Surgical site infection – mediastinitis after CABG Pressure ulcers Falls – specific trauma codes Procurement Sensitive Candidate HACs Surgical site infections following specific elective procedures Staphylococcus aureus septicemia Clostridium difficile-associated disease (CDAD) Ventilator-associated pneumonia (VAP) Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) / pulmonary embolism (PE) Legionnaires’ Disease Iatrogenic pneumothorax Delirium Extreme glycemic aberrancies Procurement Sensitive Methicillin-Resistant Staph. aureus (MRSA) Directly addressed, as MRSA could be the cause of any of the selected infectious conditions Presence of MRSA as a colonizing bacterium does not constitute an HAC Presence of MRSA is not a CC or MCC Procurement Sensitive POA Indicator General Requirements Present on admission is defined as present at the time the order for inpatient admission occurs Conditions that develop during an outpatient encounter, including emergency department, observation, or outpatient surgery, are considered present on admission Phased implementation Procurement Sensitive POA Indicator General Requirements POA indicator is assigned to Principal diagnosis Secondary diagnoses External cause of injury codes (Medicare requires reporting only if E-code is reported as an additional diagnosis) Procurement Sensitive POA Indicator Reporting Options POA Indicator Options and Definitions Code Reason for Code Y Diagnosis was present at time of inpatient admission. N Diagnosis was not present at time of impatient admission. U Documentation insufficient to determine if condition was present at the time of inpatient admission. W Clinically undetermined. Provider unable to clinically determine whether the condition was present at the time of inpatient admission. Unreported/Not used. Exempt from POA reporting. This code is equivalent code of a blank on the UB-04; however, it was determined that blanks are undesirable when submitting this data via the 4010A. 1 POA Indicator Reporting IPPS FY 2009 Proposed Rule POA indicator CMS is proposing to pay the CC/MCC for HACs that are coded as “Y” & “W” CMS is proposing to NOT pay the CC/MCC for HACs that are coded “N” & “U” Procurement Sensitive POA Indicator Reporting Requires Accurate Documentation “ A joint effort between the healthcare provider and the coder is essential to achieve complete and accurate documentation, code assignment, and reporting of diagnoses and procedures.” ICD-9-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting Procurement Sensitive HAC & POA Enhancement & Future Issues CMS seeks public comment on enhancements to the HAC payment provision in the IPPS FY 2008 proposed rule Risk adjustment Rates of HACs for VBP Uses of POA information Adoption of ICD-10 Expansion of the IPPS HAC payment provision to other settings Relationship to NQF’s Serious Reportable Adverse Events Procurement Sensitive Relationship of HACs to NQF’s “Never Events” In 2002, NQF created a list of 27 Serious Reportable Adverse Events, which was expanded to 28 events in 2006 Of the HACs selected during IPPS FY 2008 rulemaking, 7 are on NQF’s list Of the HACs candidates under consideration during IPPS FY 2009 rulemaking, 1 overlaps with NQF’s events Procurement Sensitive Relationship of HACs to NQF’s “Never Events” NQF’s selection criteria for Serious Reportable Adverse Events Unambiguous: clearly identifiable and measurable Usually preventable: recognizing that some events are not always avoidable Serious: resulting in death or loss of a body part, disability, or more transient loss of a body function Indicative of a problem in a health care facility’s safety systems Important for public credibility or public accountability Procurement Sensitive NQF’s Serious Reportable Adverse Events HAC Surgical Events Surgery on wrong body part Surgery on wrong patient Wrong surgery on a patient Foreign object left in patient after surgery Selected Post-operative death in normal health patient Implantation of wrong egg Product or Device Events Death/disability associated with use of contaminated drugs, devices, or biologics Death/disability associated with use of device other than as intended Death/disability associated with intravascular air embolism Selected Current NQF Serious Reportable Adverse Events HAC Patient Protection Events Infant discharged to wrong person Death/disability due to patient elopement Patient suicide or attempted suicide resulting in disability Care Management Events Death/disability associated with medication error Death/disability associated with incompatible blood Selected Maternal death/disability with low risk delivery Death/disability associated with hypoglycemia Candidate Death/disability associated with hyperbilirubinemia in neonates Stage 3 or 4 pressure ulcers after admission Death/disability due to spinal manipulative therapy Selected Current NQF Serious Reportable Adverse Events HAC Environment Events Death/disability associated with electric shock Selected Incident due to wrong oxygen or other gas Death/disability associated with a burn incurred within facility Selected Death/disability associated with a fall within facility Selected Death/disability associated with use of restraints within facility Criminal Events Impersonating a heath care provider (i.e., physician, nurse) Abduction of a patient Sexual assault of a patient within or on facility grounds Death/disability resulting from physical assault within or on facility grounds Combating Never Events HAC payment provision Conditions of Participation VBP Plan—measurement, financial incentives, and public reporting Coverage policy Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) 8th and 9th Scopes of Work The President’s FY 2009 Budget proposal 1. Prohibit hospitals from billing Medicare for never events 2. Require hospitals to report occurrence of these events or receive a reduced annual payment Procurement Sensitive update Opportunities for HAC & POA Involvement IPPS Rulemaking IPPS FY 2009 proposed rule on display April 14, 2008 60 day comment period ended on June 13, 2008 IPPS FY 2009 final rule released in August 2008 Updates to the CMS HAC & POA website: www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalAcqCond/ Hospital Open Door Forums Hospital Listserv Messages Procurement Sensitive VBP Programs Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Procurement Sensitive Hospital Quality Initiative MMA Section 501(b) Payment differential of 0.4% for reporting (hospital pay for reporting) FYs 2005-07 Starter set of 10 measures High participation rate (>98%) for small incentive Public reporting through CMS’ Hospital Compare website Procurement Sensitive Hospital Quality Initiative DRA Section 5001(a) Payment differential of 2% for reporting (hospital P4R) FYs 2007- “subsequent years” Expanded measure set, based on IOM’s December 2005 Performance Measures Report Expanded measures publicly reported through CMS’ Hospital Compare website DRA Section 5001(b) Report for hospital VBP beginning with FY 2009 Report must consider: quality and cost measure development and refinement, data infrastructure, Procurement Sensitive Hospital VBP Workgroup Tasks & Timeline 2006 Oct Dec 2007 Jan 17 Apr 12 May June Nov 21 Environmental Scan Issues Paper Listening Session #1 for Stakeholder Input on Issues Paper Options Paper Listening Session #2 for Input on Hospital VBP Options Paper Final Design Final Report, Including Design, Process, and Environmental Scan Report Submitted to Congress Performance Model Overview Hospitals submit data for all VBP measures that apply CMS determines each hospital’s performance score on each measure: higher of 0 - 10 points on attainment or improvement For each hospital, CMS aggregates scores across all measures within a domain (e.g., clinical process-of-care measures, HCAHPS) CMS weights and combines each hospital’s domain scores to determine the hospital’s Total Performance Score CMS translates each hospital’s Total Performance Score into an incentive payment using an exchange function Procurement Sensitive Earning Clinical Process of Care Points: Example Measure: PN Pneumococcal Vaccination .47 .87 Benchmark Attainment Threshold Hospital I Attainment Range Score • Score baseline .21 .70 performance • 1 2 3 • 4 • 5 •• 6 7 • 8 9 Attainment Range • 1 • 2 • 3 •4 •5 • 6• 7 Improvement Range •8 •9 Hospital I Earns: 6 points for attainment 7 points for improvement Hospital I Score: maximum of attainment or improvement = 7 points on this measure Calculation of Clinical Process of Care Performance Score Total Earned Points = Sum of points earned across all reported measures Total Possible Points = Number of measures reported by hospital x 10 Clinical Process of Care Performance Score = Total Earned Points / Total Possible Points x 100 Procurement Sensitive Earning HCAHPS Points: Example Dimension: Doctor Communication 50th Baseline 95th Baseline Percentile Percentile Attainment Threshold Benchmark Attainment Range Score Hospital I baseline Score •nd 42 63rd • performance 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Attainment Range 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Improvement Range Hospital I Earns: 3 points for attainment 4 points for improvement Hospital I Score: maximum of attainment or improvement = 4 points on this measure 8 9 10 Earning Points Based on Minimum Performance Across All Eight HCAHPS Dimensions: Examples 50th Baseline 0th Baseline Percentile Percentile Attainment Threshold Hospital L Score 6th • lowest performance 1 2 3 4 Hospital I Hospital B Score Score 18th 67th • • 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 Minimum Percentile Point Range Hospital L’s Lowest Percentile: 6th Hospital L Earns: 2 minimum percentile points Hospital I’s Lowest Percentile: 18th Hospital I Earns: 8 minimum percentile points Hospital B’s Lowest Percentile: 67th Hospital B Earns: 20 minimum percentile points 20 points Calculation of HCAHPS Performance Score Total Earned Points = Sum of points earned across all dimensions Total Possible Points = 100 HCAHPS Performance Score = Total Earned Points / 100 Total Possible Points x 100 Procurement Sensitive Calculation of Total Performance Score Each domain of measures is initially scored separately, weighting each measure within that domain equally All domain scores are then combined, with the potential for different weighting by domain Possible weighting to combine clinical process measures and HCAHPS: 70% clinical process + 30% HCAHPS As new domains are added (e.g., outcomes), weights will be adjusted Procurement Sensitive Translating Performance Score into Incentive Payment: Example 100% 90% 80% Hospital A 70% Percent Of VBP Incentive Payment Earned 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% Hospital Performance Score: % Of Points Earned 80% 90% Full Incentive Earned 100% Source of Incentive Payments VBP incentive proposed to be a percent of base operating DRG payment Base payment would include geographic and DRG relative weight adjustments Approach links incentive payment most directly to clinical services provided Would apply to all DRGs, not just clinical areas measured Procurement Sensitive VBP Measures Overview Measure selection considerations Proposed process for introducing and managing measures in VBP FY 2009 candidate measures for VBP financial incentive Additional measures for FY 2010 and beyond Small numbers issue Procurement Sensitive VBP Data Infrastructure & Validation Overview Proposed data submission process Improved data infrastructure Strengthening validation methodology Proposed changes to sampling Procurement Sensitive VBP Public Reporting Overview Design Considerations Content Suppressing Measures Data Displays Other Transparency Issues Procurement Sensitive VBP Program Monitoring & Evaluation CMS will foster an active learning system to promote breakthrough improvements Requires real-time program monitoring and systematic evaluation Ongoing CMS access to patient-level data will be essential Resources must be dedicated to monitoring and evaluation Procurement Sensitive VBP Plan Testing & Completion Objectives: Use most current RHQDAPU and Medicare hospital payment data to test VBP Performance Assessment Model Complete methodology development Small N Outcome scoring methodology Inclusion of Outcome Domain in determining Total Performance Score Examine financial impacts of VBP Incentive Procurement Sensitive Hospital VBP Report to Congress The Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Report Congress can be downloaded from the CMS website at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/center/hospital.asp Procurement Sensitive Value-Driven Health Care Executive Order CMS’ Posting of Quality and Cost Information Better Quality Information for Medicare Beneficiaries Pilots Chartered Value Exchanges Procurement Sensitive Value-Driven Health Care Executive Order 13410 Promoting Quality and Efficient Health Care in Government Administered or Sponsored Health Care Programs Directs Federal Agencies to: Encourage adoption of health information technology standards for interoperability Increase transparency in healthcare quality measurements Increase transparency in healthcare pricing information Promote quality and efficiency of care, which may include pay for performance Procurement Sensitive Horizon Scanning and Opportunities for Participation IOM Payment Incentives Report Three-part series: Pathways to Quality Health Care MedPAC Ongoing studies and recommendations regarding VBP Congress VBP legislation this session? CMS Proposed Regulations Seeking public comment on the VBP building blocks CMS Demonstrations and Pilots Periodic evaluations and opportunities to participate Procurement Sensitive Horizon Scanning and Opportunities for Participation CMS Implementation of MMA, DRA, TRHCA, and MMSEA VBP provisions Demonstrations, P4R programs, VBP planning Measure Development Foundation of VBP Value-Driven Health Care Initiative Expanding nationwide Quality Alliances and Quality Alliance Steering Committee AQA Alliance and HQA adoption of measure sets and oversight of transparency initiative Procurement Sensitive Thank You Thomas B. Valuck, MD, JD Medical Officer & Senior Adviser Center for Medicare Management Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Procurement Sensitive Value Based Purchasing Implementation and Approach Ann Edwards, Director, Health Industries Advisory Practice June 23, 2008 Practical Approaches to address CMS requirements Transition in format from “pay for reporting” to “pay for performance” • • Introduction of drivers for evidenced based quality care and measurement • This will require true coordination between clinicians, coders and billing office •This is not ONLY a documentation issue •Cannot be addressed solely as a coding or revenue cycle issue Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach 3 Initiatives – Same Solutions • Hospital Acquired Conditions • Present on Admission • Never Events Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs) Effective 10/01/08, CMS will no longer pay hospital’s for a DRG using the higher paying CC or MCC within one or more of these conditions unless the condition was POA (present on admission) • • • • • • • • Foreign Object Retained After Surgery Air Embolism Blood Incompatibility Stage III and Stage IV Pressure Ulcers Falls and Trauma Catheter – Urinary Tract Infection Vascular Catheter – Infection Surgical Site Infection – Mediastinitis after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach Proposed Change Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs) Under Consideration for Inclusion Surgical Site Infections Following Elective Surgery: Total Knee Replacement Laparoscopic Gastric Bypass and Gastroenterostomy Ligation and Stripping of Varicose Veins Legionnaires Disease Glycemic Control Diabetic Ketoacidosis Nonketotic Hyperosmolar Coma Diabetic coma Hypoglycemic Coma Iatrogenic Pneumothorax Delirium Ventilator-Associated Pneumonia Deep Vein Thrombosis/Pulmonary Embolism Staphylococcus aureus Septicemia Clostridium Difficile – Associated Disease Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus aureus Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach Practical Steps • Clinical teams should review literature of evidence to establish local evidenced based protocols and steps to avoid HACs, and Never Events • Not the carepaths of yesteryear • Establish interpretation and documentation expectations for POAs • Templates to support documentation • Expectation of compliance with protocols - measure and monitor • Carrots and sticks • Resources requirements Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach 7 Practical Steps (cont’d) • Establish strong and reliable data collection systems that are real time • Electronic solutions • Consistent and reliable feedback loop from coding, patient financial services back to clinical services to drive refinement of process • All for one, one for all Value Based Purchasing • Implementation and Approach Questions? Please type your questions into the video player window. The moderator will read the questions to the panelists. For more information, please visit the Philips Healthcare Reimbursement Website at http://www.medical.philips.com/main/reimbursement/ We would appreciate your feedback on this webinar: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=4vzMh_2fdYhiH3Q_2bEy4D_2fpug_3d_3d CONFIDENTIAL June 23, 2008 74 Ann Edwards, Director, Health Industries Advisory Practice, PricewaterhouseCoopers, Hartford, CT Ann Edwards is a Director in the Health Industries Advisory Practice. She has over 25 years of health care administrative leadership, operational and consulting experience. Her experience includes the areas of operations improvement in a variety of health care provider settings, including academic medical centers, community hospitals, physician practices and ambulatory care services. In addition, she has led business development projects and advised on strategic planning efforts for a variety of healthcare settings. PRIOR WORK EXPERIENCE CONFIDENTIAL . Engagement leader for financial turn around endeavor for 450 bed community based hospital in the northeast. Addressed operational inefficiencies, restructured internal departments, issues of inappropriate utilization, staffing and supply chain review to reduce unnecessary expenses, improve productivity and maximize capacity. Facilitates boards of directors, medical staff members, administrative executive teams, middle management as well as front line staff to design and implement comprehensive change processes. Monitor process redesign and implementation to ensure that performance targets are met and maintained. Lead patient throughput engagements at hospitals across the country focusing on emergency department operations, capacity management, surgical services, patient transportation and supporting IT software implementations. Directs emergency department redesign engagements in collaboration with architectural firms to optimize work and patient throughput to maximum efficiency. Conducts operational reviews of care coordination departments; restructuring for maximum organizational effectiveness. Performs quality metric review and implementation of plan to ensure and maintain consistent performance at benchmark including pay for performance incentive plans. Hospital Senior Management Team Member during merger and consolidation efforts creating fully integrated health system Coordinates medical staff development planning and physician enfranchisement strategies for muti-site healthcare system. Founding partner of 4-hospital joint venture to establish free standing radiation therapy centers in the community setting June 23, 2008 Thomas B. Valuck, MD, MHSA, JD, Medical Officer & Senior Advisor, Center for Medicare Management, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Washington, DC Dr. Thomas Valuck is Medical Officer and Senior Advisor in the Center for Medicare Management (CMM) at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). He advises CMS leadership on policy issues related to Medicare’s payment systems and quality initiatives, particularly pay for performance. Recently, Dr. Valuck served as Director of CMS’ Special Program Office of Value-Based purchasing, which was temporarily created to launch physician and hospital pay for performance. He earned the 2007 Administrator’s Achievement Award for leadership in implementing Medicare pay-for-performance initiatives. Dr. Valuck, a native of Kirksville, Missouri, has degrees in biological science and medicine from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. He took clinical training in pediatrics at the Children’s Mercy Hospital in Kansas City, Missouri, before obtaining a Master’s degree in health services administration from the University of Kansas. Dr. Valuck was employed for over nine years in various executive roles, including Vice President of Medical Affairs, at the University of Kansas Medical Center (KUMed) in Kansas City, Kansas. While at KUMed, Dr. Valuck was awarded the Robert Wood Johnson Health Policy Fellowship, a one year sabbatical during which he served on the staff of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee Dr. Valuck relocated to Washington, DC to attend the Georgetown University Law Center where he worked on the Georgetown Journal of Law and Public Policy and earned the BNA Health Law Award and the Federal Legislation Clinic Advocacy Award. As a law student, he worked for the White House Council of Economic Advisers as a health policy assistant to Dr. Mark McClellan, who was the President’s Chief Health Policy Adviser at that time. Before joining CMS, Dr. Valuck was an associate at the law firm of Latham & Watkins, where he practiced regulatory health law. CONFIDENTIAL June 23, 2008