On the evening of Tuesday, July 6, 2010, the White House announced in a blo posting that U.S. President Barack Obama will use a recess appointment to appoint Donald M.Berwick, MD as the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). CMS has not had a permanent administrator since 2006.

Dr. Berwick is a pediatrician and the founder of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, a Boston, MA think tank. He is lauded for being a leading advocate for the concept that the reduction of errors and costs can lead to improve health care quality.

CMS will have significant responsibility to implement the health care reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, which mandates significant cuts in Medicare spending and demands that CMS finds more efficient ways to pay for and deliver care.

President Obama nominated Dr. Berwick in April to be CMS administrator, but Republicans opposed the nomination, saying Berwick is a proponent of rationing of care. Republican leaders and spokespersons asserted that Berwick’s ideas about comparative effectiveness research could lead to rationing of health care services. Last month, 56 House Republicans wrote to the President requesting that he withdraw the nomination, citing Berwick’s support for and work with the British National Health Service, which uses comparative effectiveness research in its care decisions.

In response to the resistance, the American Medical Association (AMA), the American Hospital Association (AHA) and previous CMS administrators endorsed Dr. Berwick’s confirmation. The Campaign for Better Health Care also organized more than 90 consumer advocate, purchaser and provider groups and submitted a letter of support to Congressional leaders.

Responding to Republican opposition in the U.S. Senate, the President used his presidential authority to appoint him during Independence Day recess. Dr. Berwick begins in his new role immediately.