Personalized medicine advocates push for better reimbursement system

CQ Healthbeat: "The U.S. reimbursement for diagnostic tests is outdated and inhibits the development of more personalized tests for patients, according to a report released Tuesday by the Personalized Medicine Coalition. The report detailed problems with coding, coverage and payment issues that advocates say stifle scientific innovation. The development of drugs and diagnostic tests has become more tailored to the individual in recent decades. Manufacturers have created tests that identify particular characteristics or genetic traits that are associated with diseases. But supporters of this more personalized approach say that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) must modernize its payment system in order for the science to thrive" (Adams, 12/7).

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This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.