Earlier this month, Premier hosted a panel on value-based care (VBC), with providers from across the healthcare continuum discussing its merits and pitfalls. In attendance were members of Congress and their staffers to hear how precisely VBC has been effective and policy changes needed to continue its forward progress. One message came through above all…
The newly published 2021 CMS Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program (QPP) Proposed Rule reflects our harsh reality: Operate under the constraints of the COVID-19 pandemic, while moving toward uniformity and Risk. That tension is palpable in the Proposed Rule’s “push-pull” of CMS trying to continue to advance a Value agenda while stuck in the mud…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 3 released a rule that proposes changes to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) for 2021. According to federal officials, because providers must stay focused on the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of significant proposed changes to the programs are limited….
New bipartisan legislation aims to create more accountable care organizations by boosting the percentage of shared savings for new entrants and making a series of other reforms. The Value in Health Care Act introduced on July 24 proposes several changes to Medicare’s alternative payment models. It would boost payments for not only ACOs but also extend…
The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly challenged clinician practices, hospitals, and all health care delivery organizations. Many such organizations have scrambled to build new capabilities and shift workflows to test, trace, and manage COVID-19 as well as remotely manage chronic conditions for their non-COVID patients. At the same time, health care delivery organizations are facing considerable…
Hospitals and providers face unprecedented financial pressure amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Providers are losing $1.4 billion daily as they experience significant declines in patient volume, according to consulting firm Crowe. Healthcare executives are responding to the financial declines with workforce reductions, pay cuts and other cost-cutting measures. Debbie Zimmerman, MD, Corporate CMO at Lumeris, a value-based…
As the coronavirus pandemic continues to upend health care in the U.S., pressure has mounted on CMS to adjust its efforts to drive providers to adopt risk. In response, at the end of last week CMS announced a carve-out of COVID-19 patient expenses from certain reporting requirements. In this round, ACOs were on the receiving…
There have been a number of unprecedented regulatory flexibilities issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in recent weeks given the COVID-19 pandemic, done with the intention of easing the burdens on the health care system to be more responsive to our patients’ needs. But one issue that has been left in…
Alternative payment models (APM) primarily run by Medicare have generally produced modest savings and quality improvements. However, popular APMs including accountable care organization (ACO) and bundled payment models have high drop-out rates, which may indicate a problem with downside risk, according to a new review article in Health Affairs. The article reviewed 40 APMs operated by the CMS…
Post-acute care providers will be forced to demonstrate their value in more care settings as payment models evolve in the coming years, according to a new report by Avalere Health. Most providers (95%) will be subject to new payment models in 2020 and 2021, say report authors, who forecasted healthcare trends to expect this year. Operators also…