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. […]
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 […]
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 […]
New ACO Playbook: To Show Standout Performance, ACOs Must Rethink Quality
The health care media are full of articles asserting that ACOs have proven their mettle in delivering health care of highest quality. Citing ACO quality reporting results, CMS and advocates point to the majority of ACOs passing CMS quality standards, and that ACOs are improving their results on quality measures over time. The vast majority […]
New ACO Playbook: Can Coordination of Care Save Enough Money to Save ACOs?
Central to the controversy about ACOs’ potential for Value-Based Care is whether they actually save enough money and reduce costs fast enough. Researchers and advocates have produced various independent studies of ACO savings, the most generous estimating $1.8 billion in cumulative savings over the first three years of the program, almost double CMS estimates. Many […]
Why ACOs Need a New Playbook
A lot has happened in health care since 2012, when final rules permitted provider-organized ACOs to be the driving force of Value-Based Care under the 2010 Affordable Care Act (ACA). As we pass the ACA’s eleventh anniversary, a dwindling number of Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACOs are entering a new phase marked by higher […]
7 New Value-Based Health Care Directions You’ll See in 2021
Everyone who’s reeling from 2020 is hoping for light in 2021. Health care, especially—systems, hospitals, clinical practices and their providers—wants the pain to stop. What might lie ahead for health care next year? Here’s what we’re thinking about the near future, and what you should watch for in 2021. 1. Health care providers will be […]
Video: Cost Transparency Gives ACOs a Competitive Edge Under Risk
While your ACO isn’t subject to CMS’s new rules about cost transparency, you’d be well advised to adopt this method to succeed under Risk through your own modified approach. As your organization establishes mutually beneficial relationships with providers, you can’t avoid the choice to achieve savings by prioritizing strategies to focus on cost variations and […]
ACOs, You Probably Think Cost Transparency Isn’t Your Problem. Think Again.
ACOs have largely sidestepped the cost transparency dispute raging between Medicare and medical providers, especially hospitals, due to CMS rules requiring providers to give consumers coverage-based cost estimates. If you’re an ACO, you probably assume that cost transparency is not your problem. So you probably won’t like to hear that your ACO should be helping […]
“Push-Pull” for Providers in Medicare’s Proposed 2021 Rule for Physician Fees and Quality Reporting
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 […]