President Barack Obama nominated Donald Berwick, M.D., to be the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, a White House official confirmed with DOTmed News.

"Dr. Berwick has dedicated his career to improving outcomes for patients and providing better care at lower cost," President Obama said in a statement. "That's one of the core missions facing our next CMS Administrator, and I'm confident that Don will be an outstanding leader for the agency and the millions of Americans it serves."

If approved by the Senate, Berwick, co-founder and president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, would fill the position that has not been permanently filled since October 2006, when Mark McClellan stepped down.
If the Senate confirms Berwick as the programs' administrator, he will oversee new policies and changes in the Medicare and Medicaid systems, which serves about 100 million people.

DOTmed News originally confirmed the president's intention to nominate Berwick last month (DM 12124).

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