A new Institute of Medicine panel report lists 13 recommendations to Congress on how to improve the Department of Health and Human Services in the 21st Century.
One recommendation, however - a push to link reimbursement to healthcare outcomes - didn't meet with the full panel's approval.
One of three panel dissenters on the pay-for-performance recommendation, David Beier, senior vice president of global government and corporate affairs at Amgen, said it's premature to push pay-for-performance in federal programs until further study is conducted on how well it works.
"Without acknowledging how comparative effectiveness and cost effectiveness could be misused, there is substantial risk that the terms of the real policy debate could be obscured," Beier wrote.
The other recommendations, which met with full panel approval, focused on ways to improve HHS adaptability and alignment, the strengthening of public health and the health of the U.S. workforce, and improving HHS decision making.
The IOM panel was convened in 2008 and comes right on time with recommendations which says Obama should make timely appointments for key HHS leadership positions, and these positions should be expedited by timely Congressional approval.
Other recommendations are directed at the HHS secretary, most likely to be former Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.).
"In order to maximize value in the healthcare system, the secretary must strengthen the scientific base and capabilities of the department and ensure that agencies' research findings are shared department-wide and that current best evidence is used for departmental decisionmaking, including Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reimbursement policy," the panel said.
The book of recommendations is available now online in its draft form and will be published in 2009.