The age of value-based healthcare is here, and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken the lead in healthcare delivery and reimbursement reform. The strategy is driven by a three-part aim to offer better quality health, to improve patient healthcare experiences, and to deliver services at lower costs. CMS has designed an…
Physician-only ACOs have been leaders in quality and achieving real savings since the inception of the Medicare Shared Savings Program, according to an AMA resource. Here are seven things to know. 1. According to a CMS fact sheet, the number of ACOs participating in the various tracks of the MSSP increased from 480 in 2017…
ALEX AZAR LAYS OUT VALUE-BASED CARE AGENDA — The HHS secretary’s four stated priorities, presented at a Federation of American Hospitals conference, generally mirror what the Obama administration pushed in its final years in office, POLITICO’s David Pittman reports. The methods for achieving those goals, of course, will likely look different. — Azar priority #1: Allow…
HHS Secretary Alex Azar outlined four priorities for the agency this week, and accelerating the path to value-based payment systems and reducing healthcare costs are at the top of his list. In remarks given to the Federation of American Hospitals on Monday, Azar delivered a blunt message. “Today’s healthcare system is simply not delivering outcomes…
While many health systems continue to move toward value-based care, they face various challenges along the way, according to a survey conducted by The Health Management Academy. The survey, sponsored by Lumeris, asked health system leaders about their respective organization’s journey toward value-based care. It involved an initial quantitative survey of 22 C-suite health system…
Primary care physicians expressed little surprise at the findings of a recent Commonwealth Fund report that determined the United States spends more than any other high-income country on healthcare, yet it has the widest gaps in the quality of the care received. The countries that have the best outcomes on the Commonwealth Fund list—in particular,…
Successfully enabling an Accountable Care Organization is extremely challenging: There isn’t one standard ACO model; there isn’t one single ACO national policy; there isn’t one specific map to follow to build an ACO nor measure its success. There are few if any best practices readily available for healthcare organizations to adopt and make a successful…
Dive Brief: Provider organizations are urging CMS to allow Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) to continue for three more years without taking on financial risk. Under the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), ACOs that began in 2012 or 2013 face their third contract period in 2019 and will have to move from Track 1 to…
Seven years have passed since the Affordable Care Act catalyzed the idea of volume over value in the healthcare industry, paving the way for accountable care organizations (ACOs) to accrue shared shavings while focusing on population health. Since that time, the number of ACOs has exploded to over 920 organizations contracted with public and private…
What is CMMI – the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation? The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), also known as the “Innovation Center,” was authorized under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and tasked with designing, implementing, and testing new health care payment models to address growing concerns about rising costs, quality of care,…