CMS Caregiver Training Policy Excludes Patients
A small policy fix would improve patient safety.
About Medicare’s family-caregiver training policy
CMS (Medicare) recently introduced codes to pay providers for family-caregiver training on preventing falls, managing meds, wound care, and more. All safe support!
However, these codes require that caregiver training be provided “without the patient present.”
Yet! Studies show patient-
family caregiver training:
✅ Improves health literacy for patients and caregivers
✅ Fosters teamwork: patients, caregivers, clinicians
✅ Reduces preventable harm—falls, med errors, more
✅ Aligns with CMS’s patient-centered priorities
OUR RECOMMENDATION TO CMS
Reimburse family-caregiver training
with or without the patient present.
Read our letter. Endorse it!
Do you agree?
It makes sense to include patients in their caregivers’ training whenever possible.
Thoughts? Karen.Curtiss@CarePartnerProject.org
Kindly share!
Family, Friends, Caregiver Groups, Colleagues
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