Earlier this year, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) announced five new payment models designed to transform primary care by paying providers for outcomes rather than services. Direct Contracting and Primary Care First are two of these models announced by CMS to help encourage providers and other eligible professionals to shift from FFS to…
Applications for the upcoming Direct Contracting Model are due by the end of the day, but the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS) is saying providers do not have enough information on model specifics to make a decision on participation. Providers need more details on how the model will align with existing programs, the financial methodology,…
In an attempt to improve patient outcomes and reduce care costs, ACOs in value-based care models across the country have devoted significant attention to the inpatient setting—focusing care management resources on inpatient discharges in particular. This is understandable, given the risk associated with that transition of care and potential for 30-day readmissions, which impact ACOs…
Members of the nation’s largest association for accountable care organizations have asked CMS to make some suggested changes to the new direct contracting payment models and release additional details. Not doing so could “derail” the new payment reform, according to the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS). CMS released first details about the direct contracting…
The first deadline for the Trump administration’s new direct contracting value-based care payment model is right around the corner. But potential applicants are worried about key missing details. For instance: How will they get paid? Feb. 25 is the deadline to apply to be part of the implementation year for direct contracting. But the application…
Accountable care organizations are claiming they don’t have all the information needed to decide if they want to participate in the direct-contracting options from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation even though the deadline to apply for the implementation period is days away. The application window to participate in the implementation period of the direct-contracting models…
Patients receiving primary care outside of their defined accountable care organization (ACO) network drive up costs for ACOs, a recent study from Portland State University said. The Medicare Shared Savings program sparked the growth of ACOs. These payment models intend to reduce healthcare costs while improving patient care through care coordination among a network of participating providers. Those…
Accountable Care Organizations formed for the first time in 2011 and were designed to combat rising medical costs and provide more coordinated care to Medicare patients. But the savings have been inconsistent nationwide. A new Portland State University study looked at what’s driving these inconsistencies and what ACOs might do to resolve the issue. The study…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) were created to push the industry away from fee-for-service towards value-based care. Through care coordination and a shared savings payment model, ACOs strive to improve patient outcomes and population health management while keeping costs to a minimum. With three-quarters of all the care a patient needs in a given year can be covered…
Want doctors to get into alternative payment model arrangements like accountable care organizations (ACOs)? Start with “baby steps” like giving them only upside risk, Greg Griggs, executive vice president and CEO of the North Carolina Academy of Family Physicians, in Raleigh, said here at the National Health Policy Conference. “I think there is becoming more…