By John Halamka MD – I’m in New York City visiting Oscar Health, on my continuing quest to determine how best to integrate digital platforms, patient-family engagement, and care coordination in preparation for MACRA/MIPS and the transformation from fee for service to alternative payment models.
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By Jeff Jones – Encouraging physicians to switch to EHRs has been a long term effort from CMS ever since the January 2009 passage of the HITECH act.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized new rules that will enrich the Qualified Entity Program by expanding access to analyses and data that will help providers, employers, and others make more informed decisions about care delivery and quality improvement.
By John Halamka MD – Some have suggested that my comments over the past few months about the Meaningful Use program, MACRA/MIPS, and Certification imply that we should just give up – throw out the baby with the bath water. That’s not what I’ve written. Here’s a clarification.
At a hearing on MACRA yesterday by the U.S. Senate Committee on Finance, Acting CMS Administrator Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) said the agency may consider a delay in implementing MACRA, acknowledging that small and rural practices may struggle with the new legislation and its current January 1, 2017 start date.
By Jordan Kiszla & Rachel Nuzum – HHS issued a proposed rule to implement MACRA. Congress passed this bipartisan legislation last year to replace the sustainable growth rate formula (SGR)—which tied the growth of Medicare physician payments to growth in the economy—with an approach that rewards high-performing providers and supports alternative payment models.
Last year we began hosting virtual round table panel discussions addressing our industry’s most pressing topics. Now we’re taking on two more topics: the National election and the transition to new value-based care models.
CMS released a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) for MACRA. Comments are due no later than 5 p.m. on June 27, 2016. You can submit or review comments on Regulations.gov. Until then, here is what is in the news along with more information, events, and commentary on the rule.
By David Squires & David Blumenthal MD – There’s a lot to absorb in the proposed rule for implementing “MACRA”—the sprawling, bipartisan law passed in 2015 aimed at moving Medicare physician payment from rewarding volume to rewarding value. One question attracting scrutiny is whether the reforms will favor larger practices at the expense of smaller ones.