Statement attributable to:

Patrice A. Harris M.D., M.A.

President, American Medical Association 

“Physicians on the front line of this pandemic are grateful that CMS has eased Medicare reporting requirements, allowing clinicians to focus on patients. In the best of times, physician practices struggle to meet all the bureaucratic demands in the Medicare program. These are not the best of times.

“CMS’ decision to offer relief from the submission demands in the Quality Payment Program will be felt immediately. Doctors don’t have much time to breathe a sigh of relief, but if they did, they would take a moment to thank CMS for this wise decision."

In response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, the AMA supports physicians in their care of patients by providing timely advocacy to policymakers and by providing evidenced-based tools, resources and information. These efforts include:

• Publishing an AMA COVID-19 online resource center, Physicians Guide to COVID-19, and a COVID-19 FAQ to help physicians prepare their practices, address patient concerns, and provide answers to physicians’ top questions.
• Providing a comprehensive overview of the coronavirus by the JAMA Network™–including epidemiology, infection control and prevention recommendations–available for free on its JN Learning website.
• Mobilizing a dramatic increase in the nation’s telemedicine capacity through its advocacy and publication of the Quick Guide to Telemedicine in Practice, a new resource to help physicians implement remote care.
• Advocating to policymakers about urgent administrative and legislative needs to ensure that hospitals, health systems, physicians and nurses are viable and directly supported for preparedness and response.