Dive Brief:
- A CMS public-private partnership meant to cut costs and improve health outcomes of Medicare enrollees has failed to catch on with physician practices, Modern Healthcare reports.
- Just 165 new practices have signed on for round two of Comprehensive Primary Care Plus, which launched last year. CMS did not say why so few practices opted to participate this year.
- One reason for the lack of enthusiasm could be because the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act doesn’t recognize CPC+ as an alternative payment model, Matthew Katz, a board member of the Physicians Advocacy Institute, told Modern Healthcare. Providers may also be overwhelmed by the sheer number of APMs there are to choose from, he said.
Dive Insight:
CMS debuted CPC+ in April 2016, billing it as the “largest-ever” effort to transform the way primary care is delivered and paid for in the U.S. The focus is on preventive care and is part of the agency’s broader goal to reward quality over quantity. In 2015, CMS set a goal of achieving 50% of traditional Medicare reimbursements via alternative payment models by 2018.
Under the CPC+ model, Medicare collaborates with commercial and state health insurance plans to support primary care practices in delivering advanced primary care services. Key components include expanded in-person hours and round-the-clock access, comprehensive care across the healthcare system, data analytics to identify opportunities for improvement in care quality and utilization, and care management for high-risk patients.
Eligible practices can choose from two CPC+ tracks, one that pays physicians $180 a year for what amounts to about 30 minutes annually of care management or a risk-based model that reduces fee-for-services and rewards or penalizes doctors based on quality of care and cost savings.
Early results have been encouraging, with 95% of practices meeting quality of care requirements and four of seven regions producing results that reaped a share of the savings pool.