Washington Examiner - Put Healthcare Back in the Hands of Doctors and Patients, Not Bureaucrats

Op-Ed

Everyone deserves access to the best possible healthcare, and that is going to require change. As members of the Healthy Future Task Force Subcommittee on the Doctor-Patient Relationship, we are focused on crafting sensible, patient-driven solutions that translate into improved care for everyone.

We are working to get Washington, D.C., out of the doctor's office and give patients and their doctors the freedom they need to make their own healthcare decisions, as opposed to Washington bureaucrats who hamper innovation, drive up costs, and take time away from patient care. Patients, in consultation with their doctors, should always be in the driver's seat of their medical decisions.

Since Democrats took control of Congress, their primary healthcare strategy has been to impose a one-size-fits-all approach that fails to empower patients and their doctors to do what is best. Beyond simply opposing efforts to enact broad " Medicare for All " policies that would destroy personalized and modernized care, we will work to transform the healthcare system to better serve patients and providers.

It's essential that we streamline and standardize antiquated processes, such as prior authorization, that delay patient care and promote patients over paperwork by cutting excessive red tape. In addition to ensuring patients can access care in a timely manner, we need to ensure the care they access is from quality providers. We need to address provider shortages through oversight of healthcare workforce programs and properly value the work providers do in our communities to empower physicians and ensure patients are placed front and center for their care.

As we're looking at improvements in patient care, it's impossible to ignore the impact that two years of lockdowns, mandates, and uncertainty have had on mental health in America, resulting in increased substance-use disorders.

Reauthorizing the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act, which was landmark legislation to combat the opioid epidemic, treat substance-use disorders, and strengthen mental health services, will help people in despair find hope and purpose again. Ensuring patients have access to these services also requires a highly trained workforce in the most appropriate areas of need. Congress made historic investments under the Trump administration to expand graduate medical education programs. Greater oversight and transparency of these investments are needed to ensure unique needs are met for patients, especially for seniors, veterans, and those living in rural communities.

Lastly, and perhaps most detrimental to the doctor-patient relationship, is the heavy hand of government dictating what is best for patients. It is past time to remove harmful federal mandates limiting doctors' time with patients. We must end the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services's COVID-19 vaccine requirement for providers and update hospital visitor guidance. We should ease the complexity of electronic health records, for example, by reducing "clicks" required by providers and making it easier for doctors to have the most up-to-date information about a patient, regardless of who has seen the patient before, leaving more time for the visit and less time for duplicate paperwork. When Republicans retake the majority, we will build upon the Trump administration's regulatory success by modernizing quality metrics for providers and eliminating outdated, duplicate, or overly burdensome administrative requirements.

House Republicans are advancing effective solutions to make the healthcare system work better for all patients, and a key component is restoring the doctor-patient relationship. We know our constituents in Indiana, North Carolina, and Texas need and deserve quality, patient-driven care that promotes transparency, cuts red tape, and, above all else, keeps Washington out of the doctor's office.

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