CMS Sets Timeline for Medicare's Shift to Value-Based Reimbursement

CMS released this week measurable goals and a timeline to move the Medicare program, and the healthcare system at large, toward paying providers based on the quality, rather than the quantity of care they give patients.

HHS has set a goal of tying 30 percent of traditional, or fee-for-service, Medicare payments to quality or value through alternative payment models, such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) or bundled payment arrangements by the end of 2016, and tying 50 percent of payments to these models by the end of 2018.

HHS also set a goal of tying 85 percent of all traditional Medicare payments to quality or value by 2016 and 90 percent by 2018 through programs such as the Hospital Value Based Purchasing and the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Programs. This is the first time in the history of the Medicare program that HHS has set explicit goals for alternative payment models and value-based payments.

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.

Given CMS' ambitious timeline for rewarding value-based care, healthcare organizations can no longer afford to ignore the industry's inevitable shift to value-based reimbursement.

HIN.com has a range of resources to get you up to speed on the most successful strategies for value-based reimbursement, including:

• Positioning for Value-Based Reimbursement: Workforce Development for Transitional Care, Chronic Care Management
  
  
• Physician Value-Based Reimbursement: Quality Rewards for Population Health
  
  
• Value-Based Reimbursement Answer Book: 97 FAQs on Healthcare Models, Measures and Methodology
  
  
• Care Compacts in the Medical Neighborhood: Transforming PCP-Specialist Care Coordination
  
  
• Driving Value-Based Reimbursement with Integrated Care Models
  
  
• 7 Patient-Centered Strategies to Generate Value-Based Reimbursement
  
  
• Guide to Value-Based Reimbursement: Profiting from Payment Bundling, PHO Shared Savings, and Pay for Performance
  
  
• Case Management in Value-Based Healthcare: Trends, Team-Building and Technology