U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, R-Fla., one of the co-chairs of the GOP’s Healthy Future Task Force on Capitol Hill, turned to “improving the patient care experience and strengthening the doctor-patient relationship” this week.

Buchanan and U.S. Rep. Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., lead the task force while U.S. Rep. Larry Buschon, R-Mary., heads the Doctor-Patient Relationship Subcommittee.

“Instead of a government-run, socialized system that puts bureaucrats in charge of health care, Republicans are focused on getting Washington out of your doctor’s office,” the two chairs said this week as they showcased the subcommittee’s solutions. “ These solutions also aim to make care more individualized, ensure patients have access to the best available providers and continue promoting access to mental health and substance use disorder health care services that are increasingly needed following the impact of harmful COVID-19 lockdowns on Americans’ mental health. These proposals build upon the Healthy Future Task Force’s work to better serve all patients and help them live healthier and longer lives,,:

The subcommittee’s solutions include:

Get Washington out of the doctor’s office: Remove harmful federal mandates, improve quality metrics on providers and ease the complexity of Electronic Health Records to ensure the patient stays the main focus of visits

Ensure access to quality providers: Make sure investments in graduate medical education are translating into improved care, reauthorize the SUPPORT Act and create certainty on provider reimbursement

Grant timely access to care for patients: Reform prior authorization process to stop this cause of delay of care by streamlining and standardizing prior authorization to encourage real-time decisions.