Barry Straube, chief medical officer and director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), retired from the CMS on January 31, 2011. The highest-ranking nephrologist within the CMS for the past six years, Dr. Straube cochaired the End Stage Renal Disease and Clinical Laboratory Open Door Forum and was responsible for many of the significant payment and policy reforms to the Medicare end stage renal disease (ESRD) program, including the new bundled Prospective Payment System and the ESRD Quality Improvement Program. His other accomplishments include updating the Conditions for Coverage used by surveyors to qualify dialysis providers for Medicare funding, and service as a senior advisor on ESRD and transplantation issues to the agency. Besides his background in quality improvement, Dr. Straube also leaves behind a notable gap in nephrology expertise at the CMS.
“We have been immensely fortunate to have Dr. Straube’s expertise and leadership at CMS for these past six years,” commented ASN President Joseph Bonventre, MD, PhD, FASN. “The kidney community has benefited greatly from the nephrology perspective he brought to his roles at CMS. We wish Dr. Straube the best of luck as he embarks upon the next phase of a distinguished career.”
“Dr. Straube has been a dedicated public servant and an invaluable ally at CMS in a time of tremendous change and consequence for the kidney community. His work as a champion for patients with kidney disease has been invaluable and will be missed,” said ASN Councilor Jonathan Himmelfarb, MD, FASN.
Dr. Straube states that he looks forward to “exploring new opportunities and returning to the private sector after some vacation and family time.”
Before assuming the roles of chief medical officer and director of the Office of Clinical Standards and Quality, Dr. Straube was the chief medical officer for CMS, Region IX. After his first year of public service in 2001, the CMS awarded him the CMS Administrator’s Achievement Award, the agency’s highest honor, and in 2003 he received the Secretary’s Award for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Before undertaking his government work, Straube’s career included quality improvement roles in the private sector and service as chief of the division of nephrology at California Pacific Medical Center. He received his medical degree from the University of Michigan Medical School and completed his renal fellowship in nephrology at Tufts University School of Medicine.
