Obama expected to nominate Donald Berwick to head CMS

President Barack Obama will soon nominate Donald Berwick, MD, to head the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, according to a statement released Saturday by Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa), ranking member of the Senate Finance Committee.

If approved, Berwick would relieve Charlene Frizzera, who has been acting administrator of CMS since January 2009.

The CMS administrator is responsible for more than one-third of Americans' healthcare as head of Medicare and Medicaid, and will play a major role in implementing the new healthcare reform laws.

Berwick is president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement in Cambridge, Mass. According to the institute, he is one of the nation's leading authorities on healthcare quality and improvement. He is also a clinical professor of pediatrics and healthcare policy at Harvard Medical School and a professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Berwick has served as vice chairman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, the first "independent member" of the Board of Trustees of the American Hospital Association, and chairman of the National Advisory Council of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

An elected member of the Institute of Medicine (IOM), he served two terms on the IOM's governing council and was a member of the IOM's global health board.

Berwick is a recipient of numerous awards, including the 1999 Joint Commission's Ernest Amory Codman Award, the 2002 American Hospital Association's Award of Honor, the 2006 John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award for Individual Achievement from the National Quality Forum and the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations, the 2007 William B. Graham Prize for Health Services Research and the 2007 Heinz Award for Public Policy from the Heinz Family Foundation.

Grassley said the Senate Finance Committee's vetting process for Berwick could be arduous, as the committee "will need to explore the nominee's preparedness for the enormous challenges that face the agency."

"This is always a big job, but the administration of healthcare reform, which includes implementing the hundreds of billions of dollars in Medicare cuts and the biggest expansion of Medicaid in its history, will make it more challenging than ever," he said.

The Medical Group Management Association issued a statement applauding Berwick's impending nomination.

"Berwick has long been a leading voice in the quest for improving the quality and safety of patient care for all Americans," the statement said.

"As healthcare organizations and professionals shape a reformed healthcare delivery system, his knowledge and proven leadership will be critical to success," the MGMA said. "His knowledge of quality improvement also offers great opportunities for improving the efficiency of CMS' internal operations – a critical factor in reducing administrative costs."

Ron Pollack, executive director of the consumer health group Families USA, said Berwick is "an excellent choice."

"His internationally renowned work promoting quality of healthcare will enable him to bring unparalleled expertise and experience in implementing the new health reform legislation," Pollack said. "Dr. Berwick has been a pioneer in the field of healthcare quality. As a result, he is in an excellent position to strengthen Medicare and Medicaid in the years ahead."