Roji Intel Blog

Dave Halpert 0
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The 2024 CMS PFS Final Rule: Post-PHE, Value-Based Care Returns to the Forefront, Roji Health Intelligence, Dave Halpert
ACOsCMS RulesData AggregationMIPS Value PathwaysValue-Based Health Care
November 9, 2023

The 2024 CMS PFS Final Rule: Post-PHE, Value-Based Care Returns to the Forefront

The 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule—all 2,709 pages worth—was released on November 3, and the significance of the “Post-COVID” rule cannot be understated. With the Public Health Emergency expiring earlier this year, these finalized policies are intended to get the proverbial train back on its tracks, following the massive derailment in March 2020. Although many policies were finalized as proposed, there are plenty of exceptions and caveats, and providers and practices need to be keenly aware of the details. CMS is using this rule to advance its value-based care goals through data aggregation and attention to health equity. Those…
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Dave Halpert 0
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APM Performance PathwayAPP ReportingCMS RulesData Best PracticesMIPS Value PathwaysValue-Based Health Care
July 19, 2023

The 2024 CMS PFS Proposed Rule: 7 Attempts to Balance Participation Goals with Value

Reading between the many lines in the 1,920-page 2024 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) Proposed Rule, one thing is clear: CMS is still struggling to move providers into Advanced Alternate Payment Models (APMs) and keep existing ACOs moving forward on the path to value-based payments. The APP Reporting tug-of-war between CMS and ACOs results in a slight concession for providers worried about difficulty and cost of all-patient APP Reporting. We’ve seen this before, of course. Remember the delay in sunsetting the Web Interface for ACOs in the 2022 Rule and the retreat from mandatory transition to risk in the 2023…
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Dave Halpert 1
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ACOsAPM Performance PathwayClinical Data RegistryValue-Based Health Care
November 30, 2022

Catapult Your Performance Using the APP and Achieve Data Sufficiency

In a previous post, we demystified the Alternate Payment Model Performance Pathway (APP) and explained how, by partnering with a Clinical Data Registry experienced in data aggregation and result submissions to CMS, you can avoid the bugaboos falsely attributed to APP reporting—perceived high costs and impossible timelines. Here we’ll show you how to leverage your new skills to elevate your ACO’s performance across the board, from quality scoring to effective patient management—and achieve data sufficiency, in the process. Achieve Better Scores and Insights from Quality Reporting Once your ACO’s data from all practices is aggregated, you will be ready to…
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Dave Halpert 0
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Roji Health Intelligence Alternate Payment Model Performance Pathway APP
Alternative Payment Models (APM)APM Performance PathwayClinical Data RegistryPerformance Improvement
November 16, 2022

No Worries About ACO APP! It’s Your Pathway to Improvement

With the release of the 2023 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, CMS upheld its commitment to sunset its Web Interface for ACO quality reporting after 2024. Beginning in 2025, ACOs will be required to report through the Alternate Payment Model Performance Pathway, or APP. Some have expressed concerns about the APP. But this new reporting process actually has some significant advantages. It presents ACOs with a valuable trove of data to advance along the path toward better outcomes, health equity, and curtailed costs. In fact, the baseline for APP—data from provider systems, including their EHR data—is the foundation for data…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACOsCMS RulesFuture of Health CareMIPS Value Pathways
November 7, 2022

2023 PFS Final Rule: 8 Key Strategies that Boost New ACOs and Increase Health Care Access

It’s here. The 2023 CMS Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule has been released, and in a mere 3,304 pages, CMS has largely finalized its proposals from over the summer. To save you from pouring through all the minutiae, here’s what you need to know. Overall, in this Final Rule, CMS has codified principles to fulfill the goals outlined in the Innovation Center’s Strategic Refresh of October 2021. Most notably, CMS has committed to having all Traditional Medicare beneficiaries in an accountable care program by 2030, and to prioritize health equity. To make this happen, CMS needs to shake up the…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACOsAlternative Payment Models (APM)MIPS Value PathwaysValue-Based Health Care
July 12, 2022

CMS 2023 Proposed Rule Accelerates ACOs, MVPs

CMS just set off summer fireworks, amping up incentives to adopt Value-Based Care in its just-released, 2,066-page 2023 Proposed Physician Fee Schedule Rule. By encouraging formation of new ACOs, the Proposed Rule establishes a pathway to expand beneficiaries' access to accountable care. Last year, CMS committed that every Medicare beneficiary will be in an accountable care relationship by 2030, to ensure quality and total cost control. Its October 2021 Innovation Center’s Strategic Refresh identified issues with provider adoption of accountable care networks and alternative payment models (APMs). It also identified two objectives: to drive providers into Accountable Care Networks, and…
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Dave Halpert 0
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Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)MIPS Value PathwaysQuality Payment ProgramValue-Based Health Care
November 10, 2021

The 2022 CMS PFS and QPP Final Rule: A Warning Shot to Provider Holdouts of Value-Based APMs

CMS has released the 2022 Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program (QPP) Final Rule, and the message of these 2,414 pages is clear: CMS wants to push providers into value-based care arrangements. That intent was foreshadowed by the Proposed Rule released over the summer, which confirmed our predictions of trends under the Biden administration. Specifically, we saw a push to move providers into value-based care arrangements with an emphasis on closing the health equity gap, and a shift toward measuring progress through enhanced quality reporting requirements within a value-based care arrangement. To that end, in the Final Rule CMS…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACOsMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Quality Payment Program
July 19, 2021

The 2022 CMS PFS and QPP Proposed Rule: 7 Things to Know

After the 2020 election, we predicted seven trends to expect in Value-Based Care. Our forecasts were right on track. Last week the Biden Administration released its first Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program Proposed Rule, a 1,747-page document that promotes restructured value-based care initiatives. As we predicted, it recognizes both a significant health equity gap and a lack of useful data available to healthcare consumers as major challenges to overcome. We’re highlighting the seven biggest takeaways from the newly proposed Rule. Here’s the short version: The bar is higher, with substantial MIPS scoring changes ahead, and providers and organizations…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACO ReportingACOsAPM Performance PathwayMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Value-Based Health Care
June 2, 2021

The Real Registry Advantage for ACOs Reporting Via APP: 5 Myths Debunked

The clock is winding down on the CMS Web Interface, and the reality of mandatory quality reporting via the Alternate Payment Model Performance Pathway (APP) for ACOs in 2022 is setting in. In order for ACOs to develop and execute their APP quality reporting plan in time to avoid catastrophe, it’s imperative to begin evaluating options now. ACOs, however, have staged a push-back to the APP based on a number of assumptions about their impact on ACO economics, success in reporting, and elements of reporting. A lot of these are simply untrue, based on faulty assumptions about reporting through the…
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Dave Halpert 0
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ACOsMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Quality Payment ProgramValue-Based Health Care
December 2, 2020

The 2021 QPP Final Rule: A Warning Bell for ACOs and a Wake-Up Call for MIPS Participants

In a mere 2,165 pages, CMS has solidified the provisions of the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule and Quality Payment Program (QPP) Final Rule. The Final Rule strongly resembles the Proposed Rule, and the implications, particularly for ACOs, are staggering. Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (MSSP ACOs) and the Alternate Payment Model (APP) Pathway The most substantial change is that 2021 will mark the introduction of the Alternate Payment Model (APM) Performance Pathway, known as the APP. The APP aligns MIPS and APM participation more effectively in the Quality Payment Program (QPP). The APP is a pre-defined set of…
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