For many, June 30 means the fiscal year is coming to its end. It also means the deadline for self-nominating for the Group Practice Reporting Option for PQRS looms near. Why does it matter? Because your selection (or lack thereof) has the potential to substantially impact your budget in 2018, and the GPRO registration deadline […]
Proposed MACRA Rules: Your APM Strategy for Risk Readiness
If you chose not to participate in Medicare ACOs or Bundled Payments in recent years, CMS is planning to change your mind. Proposed MACRA Rules reveal a complex carrot-and-stick approach to inducing providers into risk models. Make no mistake: it’s just a matter of when, not if, you participate in one of the Alternative Payment […]
Your MACRA Prep for APMs: Learn from ACO Failures
Many provider groups are suddenly realizing they need to understand how a Medicare risk model will impact their operations and revenues. With CMS pushing providers to embrace Alternative Payment Model (APM) risk models under Proposed MACRA Rules, they should be nervous. Although prior APMs such as ACOs did not approach the levels of risk under […]
Large Practice PQRS Reporting: Act Now Before GPRO Self-Nomination Deadline
If you’re still on the fence about reporting PQRS as a Group or Individual for 2016, it’s decision time. With the June 30 deadline for Group Reporting self-nomination just over a month away, you need to check out your options now or risk expensive reporting failures. These are your choices: Report for providers individually, which […]
3 Ways Proposed MACRA Rules Revive Health Systems’ Clinical Integration Programs
Clinical Integration in medium to large Health Systems just received a nice push from the federal government’s Proposed Rules for MACRA. Health Systems trying to market quality-based physician and hospital networks systems— especially those with both employed and private physicians—should take note. This opportunity for Health Systems to bridge Medicare and private health plan quality […]
Proposed MACRA Rules Boost QCDR Development
One of the promises fulfilled by the new Proposed MACRA Rules, released April 27, is to position the Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) front and center. In fact, the Rules place the QCDR on par with the EHR in the spectrum of Health Care Information Technology (HIT) and give it special emphasis in Performance Improvement. […]
Know the F.A.C.T.S.: 2016 Proposed MACRA Rule Highlights
Just over a year since the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) passed, the new Proposed MACRA Rule was released on April 27. Now we finally have some details on how Fee For Service will yield to reimbursement through value. There’s a lot to digest in this hefty rule and a great […]
Expanding Your ACO: The Best Recruiting Strategy for Bigger ACO Savings
Whether your ACO is in its infancy or is established and growing, you’ve probably had to make some difficult choices about which groups to include—and exclude. Your ACO’s success is almost entirely driven by your ACO network’s participating providers (and their patients). They provide the care and generate beneficiary costs, and help to ensure better […]
Be Prepared for Medicare’s Transition to Bundled Payments—or Risk Future Revenues
As specialists face increasing pressure to lower costs, particularly by Medicare, so-called Bundled Payments are becoming an increasingly significant—and preferred—method of reimbursement. Although this form of Alternative Payment Method (APM) is not yet mandatory, most industry experts believe that bundled payments will form the basis of how Medicare will pay specialty services in the future, […]