By Melanie Rosenblatt, MD; Joseph V. Pergolizzi Jr., MD; and Jo Ann LeQuang, BA
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently recommended removing pain questions from the Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey, which would remove pain questions from payment calculations. This is an alarming development for many reasons.
The Affordable Care Act promotes a new paradigm of patient-centric health care and seeks to empower patients. Removing pain questions