CMS Administrator Verma Visits Hartford Healthcare For Round-Table Discussion With Physicians

HARTFORD, Conn., Oct. 16, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Seema Verma, Administrator of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), visited Hartford Hospital today for a conversation with physicians and experts from Hartford HealthCare, the Connecticut State Medical Society and other Connecticut healthcare organizations. Verma's stop in Hartford kicked off a national listening tour designed to gather feedback on CMS and how the agency can ease regulatory burdens for our nation's caregivers.

During the visit, Verma facilitated a round-table discussion and sought input from a range of experts on their experiences with the agency and ideas for improvement. Specifically, participants discussed developing more consistent quality measures, facilitating care integration, enabling faster adoption of new technologies and treatments, strengthening support for Medicaid, and addressing the opioid crisis in Connecticut.

Administrator Verma was greeted by several leaders from Hartford HealthCare, including Chief Executive Officer Elliot Joseph; Dr. Rocco Orlando III, senior vice president and chief medical officer; Bimal Patel, senior vice president and Hartford region president; and Kimberly Harrison, vice president of public policy and government affairs.

"We were pleased to host Administrator Verma for an engaged discussion about the state of healthcare today," said Elliot Joseph, chief executive officer of Hartford HealthCare. "It is extremely important to have an open dialogue about the issues facing our patients, our providers and our health system. Administrator Verma listened intently to our concerns and we know she is committed to making positive changes at CMS."

Verma was nominated for the CMS Administrator position in 2016 and was confirmed by the United States Senate on March 13, 2017. Under Verma's leadership, CMS has launched an initiative to make it easier for providers to spend less time trying to comply with complex regulations and more time delivering high-quality care.

About Hartford HealthCare

Hartford HealthCare is Connecticut's most comprehensive health care network. Our fully integrated health system includes a tertiary-care teaching hospital, an acute-care community teaching hospital, an acute-care hospital and trauma center, two community hospitals, the state's most extensive behavioral health network, a large multispecialty physician group, a regional home care system, an array of senior care services, a large physical therapy and rehabilitation network and an accountable care organization. The Hartford HealthCare Cancer Institute provides coordinated care across five cancer centers, and is the charter member of the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Alliance.

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SOURCE Hartford HealthCare