An Update from Dr. Peter Esselman, AAPM&R President:
The AAPM&R Board of Governors is grateful to the more than 1,100 AAPM&R members who sent letters to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in response to our recent call to action to stop CMS from finalizing its proposal to weaken the definition of a rehabilitation physician. That is impressive engagement and demonstrates that many of you understand the real threat this proposal poses to patient care and to the future of inpatient rehabilitation and the specialty of physiatry. Even before the CMS proposal was published, AAPM&R was actively engaged in advocacy efforts to update the vague CMS definitions currently in place for the director of rehabilitation and rehabilitation physician in inpatient rehabilitation settings. Our efforts kicked into high gear when the proposal was released on April 17, and we want to update you on all that has transpired.