Medicare Unveils Alternative Payment Models
HHS officials highlight a three-year payment reform timeline, which calls for boosting fee-for-service Medicare reimbursements and increasing reimbursements linked to quality and value.
Federal officials have announced an accelerated effort to use payment reform as a mechanism to shift Medicare and the broader healthcare industry away from the fee-for-service model.
During a gathering in the nation's capital Monday, nearly two dozen healthcare industry stakeholders, including providers, commercial payers, and Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, announced plans to ramp up Medicare payment reforms featuring alternative payment models and value-based payments.
Sylvia Mathews Burwell |
"Whether you are a patient, a provider, a business, a health plan, or a taxpayer, it is in our common interest to build a healthcare system that delivers better care, spends healthcare dollars more wisely and results in healthier people," Burwell said. "We believe these goals can drive transformative change, help us manage and track progress, and create accountability for measurable improvement."
SGR: Medicare Reforms Proposed as Funding Offset
In a statement released Monday morning, HHS officials said the payment reform initiative includes creation of a "learning and action network" to promote the development and promulgation of value-based payment models. "HHS will intensify its work with states and private payers to support adoption of alternative payments models through their own aligned work, sometimes even exceeding the goals set for Medicare. The Network will hold its first meeting in March."
3-Year Timeline
In a conference call Monday afternoon with members of the media, senior HHS officials highlighted a three-year payment reform timeline, which calls for boosting the percentage of fee-for-service Medicare reimbursements based on alternative payment models (APM) and increasing the percentage of all reimbursements linked to quality and value.
- Beyond the Hospital, Another 'Right' Place for Care
- Hospital Affiliations Vital to Community Paramedics Programs
- How Cardiology Compensation is Changing
- ICD-10 is 'Last Straw' for TX Physician Group
- Millennials, Boomers, Gen Xers—Can They All Get Along?
- Empowering Patient-Centered Care With a Complete View of the Medical Record
- Healthcare Job Growth Strong in August
- Hospital Cuts Readmissions in Half with Help from College Students
- Evidence-Based Practice and Nursing Research: Avoiding Confusion
- Wash Your Hands and Get Your Flu Shot, or Get Out
- Wash Your Hands and Get Your Flu Shot, or Get Out
- Beyond the Hospital, Another 'Right' Place for Care
- Hospital Cuts Readmissions in Half with Help from College Students
- EHR Satisfaction Sinks Among Providers
- The Organizational Case for Palliative Care
- GA Hospital to Settle False Claims Allegations for $35M
- How Patient Flow Nurses Help Cut Readmissions
- ICD-10 is 'Last Straw' for TX Physician Group
- CMS: 'Healthier People, Smarter Spending' With ACOs
- Evidence-Based Practice and Nursing Research: Avoiding Confusion
Comments are moderated. Please be patient.
Mike (1/27/2015 at 12:26 PM)
Given the vague details on this proposal i assume this is the worst change that can happen to healthcare. Doctors are accustom to providing a service and getting paid for it. To expect a doctor to provide a service and only get paid if the quality of care and value of care is at a specific level is outrageous. We are people, not cars. While one treatment might work for person A it wont work for person B. Forcing the doctor to either loose money on person B or to not fully treat person B due to the risk of not getting paid conflict with my morals. All this will do is force doctors to either not fully treat patients and decrease quality of care or to stop taking health insurance and go cash only.
Sam T. Sham (1/27/2015 at 8:42 AM)
Didn't you read the release? They are determined to END fee for service not prop it up. "There is considerable bipartisan support for moving away from fee for service toward alternative payment models that reward value, improve outcomes, and reduce costs. This transition requires action not only by the private sector, but also the public sector, which is why today's announcement is significant."