Ayotte Continues Call to Remove Incentives for Overprescribing Opioids

Press Release

Continuing her efforts to encourage the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to remove pain-related questions from hospital quality surveys when determining incentive payments to hospitals, US Senator Kelly Ayotte today announced that she is cosponsoring the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act, which was introduced by Senators Ron Johnson (R-WI) and Joe Manchin (D-WV).

"At roundtables I've held across New Hampshire to discuss the state's prescription opioid abuse crisis, physicians have told me that tying a hospital's reimbursement to patient satisfaction could encourage the overprescribing of opioids," said Senator Ayotte. "Our legislation would make sure that the only factors a physician has to take into account when prescribing pain medication are the medical needs of the patient, and ensure that hospitals can provide both compassionate and appropriate care."

Ayotte has previously written to HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell and CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt to express her concerns with the unintended consequences of patient satisfaction surveys in the context of the opioid abuse crisis.

Under the Promoting Responsible Opioid Prescribing Act, the following would not be permitted to be taken into consideration when determining hospital incentive payments: the need of patients for pain medicine; how often during a hospital stay the patient believes their pain was well controlled; how often during a hospital stay the hospital staff did "everything they could to help the patient with the pain experienced by the patient." The legislation would still keep these questions on the patient satisfaction survey so that hospitals could get an understanding of the patient's perspective on how their pain was managed. However, the patients' responses would not be taken into consideration when determining the incentive payments, thereby eliminating the financial incentive for hospitals to pressure physicians to overprescribe pain management drugs like opioids.

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