CMS’ Medicare medical home model known as CPC+ continues to get ready for the 2017 launch after the agency designated regions to be included in the program.
The first phase of the Comprehensive Primary Care+ Model was unveiled in April, and garnered praise at that time for structuring the program in such a way that clinicians participating in the program can earn an incentive fee at the outset to help fund the not insubstantial up-front costs of a medical home.
The latest development is that 11 states and four regions were selected for participation, along with about 80 payers, opening the door for primary care practices to apply for entry.
“We see CPC+ as the future of primary care in the U.S. and are pleased to partner with payers across the country that are aligned in this mission to transform our health care system,” said Patrick Conway, M.D., CMS deputy administrator and chief medical officer, in a news release. “This model allows primary care practices to focus on what they care about most — serving their patients’ needs when and how they choose,” Conway said.
“We’re pleased to see CMS offer more options for engagement in delivery reform,” says Melissa Myers, senior associate director of policy development for the American Hospital Association.
One aspect to the program that some would like to see is an expansion of a size limit regarding practices that can incorporate the medical home into the MACRA risk-based incentive model. Beginning in 2018, “if the organization that [runs] the medical home participating in CPC+ has more than 50 clinicians, then it’s excluded from the MACRA incentive,” Myers notes. Given their size, most hospitals participating in CPC+ will not get credit under the MACRA, Myers says.
Applications began to be accepted on Monday, and will be accepted through Sept. 15, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services website.
