People living in rural America have lower incomes, less education, and are in poorer health than those living in other areas of the United States. For more than a century, these measures have been “sticky” with little change despite many efforts to do so. It is also well-known that most rural areas have a shortage of primary care and specialist physicians and lack of…
The answer to solving a healthcare crisis that exacerbates barriers to care among some of the most vulnerable patient populations in the country is staring us in the face. For rural hospitals straining under the weight of erratic patient volumes, sicker populations and lack of funding, the path forward is in value-based care. But providers…
The healthcare system is at a critical point in its transition to value-based care a decade after implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), according to CMMI’s newly minted director Liz Fowler, PhD, JD. “The goal [of the ACA] was to create a system that rewards better…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is delaying the ACO Track of the Community Health Access and Rural Transformation Model, to the disappointment of the National Association of ACOs. CMS gave no reason for the delay from this spring to spring 2022. The delay applies only to the ACO Transformation Track of the CHART…
CMS has pushed back the application cycle by a year for a new rural-focused accountable care organization (ACO) model. In an email sent yesterday, CMS said it has delayed the request for applications release date from spring 2021 to spring 2022 for the ACO Transformation Track of the upcoming Community Health Access and Rural Transformation…