Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released “Putting Patients First: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Record of Accomplishment from 2017–2020,” a report highlighting the agency’s transformation in ensuring all Americans have access to quality and affordable healthcare. The report examines CMS’ accomplishments over the last four years, highlighting agency actions that responded to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and furthered CMS’s Four Core Goals identified in 2017: empowering patients and doctors, ushering in a new era of state flexibility and local leadership, developing innovative approaches, and improving the CMS customer service experience.
Accomplishments covered in the report include the response to the COVID-19 pandemic and efforts through 16 strategic initiatives that resulted in major regulatory actions, changes in guidance, and streamlined processes and procedures — including the reorganization of CMS. It also allows agency staff and leadership to better understand the impacts of policy decisions, while providing a resource to inform future CMS decisions. The report also covers how progress with respect to the Four Core Goals significantly contributed to the agency’s ability to respond to the unprecedented COVID-19 public health event. Access “Putting Patients First: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Record of Accomplishment from 2017–2020” at https://www.cms.gov/files/document/2020-eoy-accomplishments-fact-sheet.pdf.
