ACOsAdvanced Alternative Payment ModelsAPP ReportingCMS RulesMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)MIPS Value Pathways
July 16, 2024

CMS Presses for Accountable Care, Better Quality Measurement for Physicians and ACOs in New Proposed Rule

July brings us baseball, fireworks, and CMS’s Proposed Rules. In 2,248 pages of proposals, CMS has outlined its plans for MIPS, ACOs, and other Advanced Alternate Payment Models, and how they will transition from fee-for-service into a value-based care arrangement through the Quality Payment Program (QPP). We already know from the 2024 Final Rule that CMS plans to phase out Traditional MIPS in favor of MIPS Value Pathways (MVPs), and is committed to having all Traditional Medicare beneficiaries in an accountable care relationship by 2030. These Proposals continue to build on that framework, but it wouldn’t be a July ballgame…
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ACOsAPP ReportingData AggregationData Best PracticesFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health Care
June 27, 2024

Strategies for Right Now to Control Patient Care Costs

Policymaker confidence in Value-Based Care and the Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model has, so far, prevailed despite only small overall savings. There is still enduring belief that ACOs can rationalize health care and produce affordability by transformative strategies. But here’s where wishes and reality conflict: ACOs have, until now, lacked the data and tools to transform health care. The ACO savings results support the promise but not the delivery of affordable health care. The fact is that ACOs must deliver on the affordability of the promise, or as the shift to risk payment models continues, there will be financial consequences…
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Roji Health Intelligence Terry Hush ACOs Need a Strategic Map for Cost Control
ACOsData AggregationMedicareValue-Based Health Care
June 5, 2024

ACOs Need a Strategic Map for Cost Control

For ACOs to remain relevant and viable under risk payment models, they must step up now to generate more cost savings for Medicare patient care. Medicare’s budget cuts are once again under consideration as political pressure mounts to lower governmental spending. CMS is expanding risk through Medicare value-based payment models, such as the new ACO PC Flex model, which is designed to create per-patient reimbursement for small ACOs in trade for higher reimbursements and funding for infrastructure. Most newer CMS payment models are now incorporating per-patient payments designed to lower the total cost of care. As the provider-driven vanguard in…
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2022 QPP Performance Report
ACOsAlternative Payment Models (APM)Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Quality Payment Program
May 23, 2024

2022 QPP Experience Report: Address 3 Key Findings Now to Avoid Future Penalties

At first glance, CMS’s recently released 2022 QPP Experience Report (PDF) seems reassuring, because the majority of clinicians avoided financial penalties under MIPS. Don’t be fooled! While overall success and failure rates in the report may lead you to conclude that merely participating in the QPP (either in MIPS or as an APM) is enough to do well, trends in the report tell a very different story: Without a concerted and cohesive strategy to simultaneously improve efficiency and demonstrably improve quality, providers will begin to see their consistent results fall short of minimum performance thresholds. The QPP Experience Report details participation…
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APP Reporting, APP Measures, health care cost savings
ACOsAPP ReportingData Best PracticesValue-Based Health Care
March 4, 2024

3 Ways Your ACO Can Convert APP Reporting Data into Higher Savings

Controlling costs is a key Value-Based Care goal, a fact well-known to ACOs that share savings with CMS. Even as individual ACOs have generated tens of millions of dollars in savings, however, MSSP ACOs as a whole have only been able to reduce their Total Cost of Care (TCOC) by a fraction. That is a program vulnerability and one reason why value-based payments are increasingly incorporating population-based payment. Plainly stated, claims data (especially 2-5 months old) isn’t a great tool for identifying patient risks, Medicare HCCs notwithstanding. The timeline for cost prevention is before events occur, not when you’re looking…
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Roji Health Intelligence 2024 Health Care Trends Theresa Hush
Artificial IntelligenceConsumers & PatientsCorporate Health CareData Best PracticesFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health Care
January 25, 2024

These Five Trends Are Steering Your Future Path to Value-Based Care

Buckle your seat belt. Health care is changing at warp speed. The Value-Based Care movement and leaps in technology and Artificial Intelligence are rapidly generating advances that will transform the health care environment. These factors will redefine health care providers and services, and how consumers access them. How you respond strategically will determine your survival as a health system, ACO, and health care provider. All of this rests on one essential fact: Value-Based Care in 2024 has graduated from a voluntary movement into certainty. There is arguably no one in health care who believes that there is an “out.” While…
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Roji’s customized APP Reporting Plan enables your ACO to meet highest quality Medicare APP reporting standards through our qualified registry, to meet Value-Based Care, while dramatically reducing reporting costs and creating actionable data.
ACOsAPP ReportingData AggregationValue-Based Health Care
January 11, 2024

Customized Roji APP Reporting Plan Cuts ACO Costs and Burden, Boosts ACO Capabilities

Start your APP Reporting of Medicare CQMs and save with Roji Health Intelligence’s customized APP Reporting Plan for ACOs. Our new service enables your ACO to meet the highest quality reporting standards through our qualified registry, while dramatically reducing reporting costs and creating actionable data for use in population health, equity, and cost performance. What’s at Stake for Large ACOs? The finalized Medicare PFS Rule released in November 2023 toppled a big barrier for 2024 ACO quality reporting. CMS provided an option to allow ACOs to report measures for Medicare patients only—and of most importance, created the avenue to identify…
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ACOsAPP ReportingCMS RulesMedicareValue-Based Health Care
December 12, 2023

How Your ACO Can Optimize APP Reporting Using Medicare CQMs

ACOs just gained a reprieve from implementing all-patient APP quality reporting in 2024. A provision in CMS’s Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, which goes into effect on January 1, 2024, enables ACOs to report on Medicare patients only, based on CMS provision of eligible patient lists for three APP measures. If your ACO decides to delay aggregation of practice data for now, you need to consider how to optimize APP Reporting of Medicare CQMs. Choose a qualified registry for APP Reporting that can reduce your workload for reporting Medicare CQM Measures. Using CMS’s list of patients eligible for measures will…
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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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ACOsEpisodes of CareSpecialty ServicesValue-Based Health Care
November 8, 2023

5 Tips for a Win-Win Collaboration Between ACOs and Specialists

As Value-Based Care expands, payers are emphasizing cost reduction all the more. Newer CMS payment models like ACO REACH reinforce cost control by capping reimbursement in total global payments to ACOs. In turn, global payments enable ACOs to directly negotiate rates with preferred provider specialists. In addition to focusing on controlling costs delivered through primary care, your ACO should pursue strategies to stem total patient care costs (TCC) through specialty services. Between 40 to 60 percent of total patient care costs are driven by specialty physicians. While rate negotiations address the price of individual specialty services, the greater opportunities lie…
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