Rochester, Minnesota - Mayo Clinic is urging the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to keep the complexity and diversity of health care and patients in mind as it shifts physician payments from volume-based reimbursement to one based on the value of the care provided.

Mayo on Tuesday submitted written comments to the agency regarding implementation of a new physician payment system under a law passed earlier this year.  The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 repeals and replaces Sustainable Growth Rate-based physician payments with a system designed to reward value and high-quality health care.  Mayo Clinic has long sought repeal of the SGR, viewing it as unworkable and ineffective.

“As CMS begins a historic shift from a volume-driven reimbursement system to one based on the value of care provided, bold creative thinking is required to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries have access to the full spectrum of health care, from primary care to highly complex specialized care,” says Robert Nesse, M.D., Mayo's senior director for payment reform.