CMS to track refusal to accept new Medicare patients. (Monitoring Beneficiaries' Access).

BALTIMORE -- Anecdotal reports that Medicare beneficiaries cannot find physicians willing to accept them as new patients has led the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to upgrade its efforts track access to care across the country, CMS officials reported at a meeting of the Medicare Practicing Physician Advisory Council.

The agency is developing a system to monitor what types of access problems beneficiaries are experiencing and where, Dan Waldo, director of CMS's Office of Research, Development, and Information (ORDI), and Prank Eppig, ORDI deputy director, said at the meeting, also sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services. The council is composed of 15 physicians nominated by medical organizations and appointed by the HHS secretary The council advises the HHS secretary on regulations and carrier manual instructions relating to physician services.

Officials said that the agency will track the volume and content of ...