Healthmonix Advisor

Breaking: CMS Measure Change May Affect ACO Shared Savings

Posted by Christina Zink on April 12, 2019

According to a recent announcement from the National Association of ACOs (NAACOs), CMS failed to adequately communicate significant changes to measure ACO-17, Preventive Care and Screening, Tobacco Use- Screening and Cessation Intervention, until after 2018 quality reporting had begun. NAACOs believes that CMS’s failure to communicate these changes will result in unintended consequences such as lowered or even eliminated shared savings rates for ACOs that consequently received a lower performance score or failed to meet quality standards.

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Topics: CMS, ACO, Policy, APMs

CMS Announces $1M Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Outcomes Challenge

Posted by Christina Zink on March 28, 2019

The future is here!

This Wednesday, the CMS Innovation Center, in collaboration with the American Academy of Physicians and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation, announced the Artificial Intelligence (AI) Health Outcomes Challenge to predict unplanned hospital and skilled nursing facility admissions and adverse events.

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Topics: CMS, Health IT, VBC

Dr. Anand Shah - The New CMS Senior Medical Advisor for Innovation

Posted by Christina Zink on January 31, 2019

In a recent announcement, CMS Administrator Seema Verma named Dr. Anand Shah, a radiation oncologist at the National Cancer Institute, as the new Senior Medical Advisor for Innovation at CMS.

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Topics: CMS

CMS Backs Renewed Bundled Payment Efforts

Posted by Christina Zink on November 19, 2018

Bundled payments are on the rise. Last Thursday, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announced in a keynote speech at the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative Conference that CMS will be revisiting mandatory bundled payment models, changing the way bundled payment programs have been treated by this administration under his predecessor, Tom Price.

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Topics: Bundled Payments, CMS, Policy

CMS Admits to MIPS Scoring Errors, Extends Deadline

Posted by Christina Zink on September 26, 2018

In a recent update on 2017 MIPS Performance Feedback, CMS announced that they have identified errors in their scoring logic. CMS wrote that their targeted review process “worked exactly as intended, as the incoming requests quickly alerted us to these issues and allowed us to take immediate action.”

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Topics: MACRA & MIPS, CMS

Analysis Shows MSSP ACOs Saved Twice As Much As CMS Reported

Posted by Christina Zink on September 13, 2018

CMS estimates that between the 2013 and 2015 performance years, accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) saved $954 million. But according to a new analysis from Dobson DaVanzo & Associates, commissioned by the National Association of ACOs (NAACOS), they actually saved $1.84 billion—almost twice as much.

The analysis also found that MSSP delivered net savings of $541.7 million for 2013-2015 after accounting for shared savings bonuses; this is in contrast to the CMS benchmark calculation, which found that the organizations increased Medicare spending by $344.2 million.

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Topics: CMS, ACO, APMs

CMS Proposes New Changes to ACOs Under MSSP

Posted by Christina Zink on August 17, 2018

In a new proposal titled “Pathways to Success,” the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has laid out a modified set of participation options for ACOs (accountable care organizations) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). The proposed participation options would no longer include an “upside-only” risk model; instead, ACOs would be required to select one of two tracks, both of which ultimately include some downside risk.

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Topics: CMS, ACO, Policy, APMs

CMS Has Released MIPS Feedback Reports: What To Do Next

Posted by Usman Safdar on July 19, 2018

It’s that time of year again: CMS has released final QPP performance feedback for 2017, including final scores and payment adjustment information. Here at Healthmonix, we believe in turning data into outcomes, taking control of performance, and driving revenue through value-based payments—which is why, now that you have access to your feedback, we’re outlining a few important next steps your practice can take to use that feedback in a meaningful way.

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Topics: PRO Tips, MACRA & MIPS, CMS

CMS Proposes Overhauling Meaningful Use: 4 Important Takeaways

Posted by Christina Zink on May 3, 2018

On Tuesday April 24th, CMS released a proposed rule which essentially overhauls the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs (also known as the “Meaningful Use” program). The proposed rule includes updates to Medicare payment policies and rates under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and the Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS). Here are five things you should know about the proposed changes:

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Topics: CMS, Interoperability, Policy, ACI Performance Category, PI Performance Category

One Important Takeaway From HIMSS 2018

Posted by Lauren Patrick on March 15, 2018

Last week’s 2018 HIMSS Conference presented, as every year, a profusion of insights into the current landscape of healthcare technology. With over 300 education sessions, 1,300 vendors, and hundreds of special programs and events, a HIMSS conference can be hard to boil down into just a few key points. Still, I wanted to share one particularly salient impression that stuck with me after I attended, one that I think anyone with an interest in healthcare should stick a pin in.

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Topics: CMS, Industry insights