In a 28-page open letter addressed simply to “The President,” representatives of six of the healthcare industry’s largest players put forth specific plans to curb healthcare spending by an estimated 1.5 percent.
The letter comes in response to a sit-down industry leaders had with President Barrack Obama last month.
Touching on four key initiatives such as the utilization of care, cost of doing business, administrative simplification and chronic care, each organization broadly outlined how its industry would do its part.
For its part, the Advanced Medical Technology Assn. (AdvaMed), the national medical device industry council, reaffirmed the industry’s support of a controversial plan to initiate widespread comparative effectiveness research evaluating the efficacy of medical treatments and an overall change in the way physicians are compensated.
In outlining specific cost-cutting plans, AdvaMed officials put forth a plan to reduce the number of accidents caused in part by the improper use of medical devices.
The group says it can do this by working with the American Medical Assn. and the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement to create better training for physicians, as well as adopting a set of standard safety checklists similar to the airline industry’s.
AdvaMed officials were also quick to point out the results of a white paper it released last week, indicating that the overall cost of medical devices accounted for just 6 percent of the national healthcare spend.
For the full letter, see the attachment below.