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SNF Provider Preview Report: Review Your Data by July 1

Health Policy
Care Settings/Types, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Practitioners
June 21, 2018

Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Provider Preview Reports are now available. Visit the Spotlights and Announcements webpage for a list of quality measures based on quarterly data. Make sure to review your performance data by July 1, prior to public display on Nursing Home...

Secretary Azar Responds to Alternative Payment Model Proposals

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Payment, Alternative Payment Models (APM), Practitioners
June 21, 2018

Last week, Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Alex Azar responded to a number of Alternative Payment Model (APM) proposals recommended by the Physician-Focused Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC). While the secretary felt very positive about PTAC’s work, he rejected the proposals that were submitted. He noted that the majority of recommendations were for “limited-scale” testing and lacked enough data to estimate costs and savings or the size of penalties that doctors would have to pay for poor performance. Despite the overall negative response, Secretary Azar expressed...

CMS Issues Request for Information on Self-Referral Law

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Alternative Payment Models (APM), Practitioners
June 21, 2018

In line with the Administration’s goals to continue to remove administrative burdens, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a request for information (RFI) on how the physician self-referral law (better known as the Stark Law) exemptions are working and what changes are needed to reduce barriers to care coordination for alternative payment models (APM).

“Removing unnecessary government obstacles to care coordination is a key priority for this Administration,” said Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services Eric Hargan. “We need to change the healthcare system...

AMA HoD Passes Policy to Develop PALTC Alternative Payment Models

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Alternative Payment Models (APM), Practitioners
June 15, 2018

At its Annual House of Delegates (HoD) meeting, the American Medical Association (AMA) passed policy to develop post-acute/long-term care (PALTC)-specific alternative payment models (APMs). Rajeev Kumar, MD, CMD, the Society’s delegate to the AMA, brought the resolution forward and testified, asking for the AMA to advocate for a PA-only type model within the Advanced Bundled Payment for Care Initiative (BPCI). Rather than adopting that policy, the AMA Council on Medical Service recommended that AMA work with interested specialty societies to develop PALTC-specific APMs. The exact language...

Antipsychotic Drug Use in Nursing Homes: Trend Update

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Dementia, Antipsychotics, Practitioners
June 15, 2018

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is tracking the progress of the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care in Nursing Homes by reviewing publicly reported measures. The official measure of the Partnership is the percentage of long-stay nursing home residents who receive antipsychotic medication, excluding residents diagnosed with schizophrenia, Huntington's disease, or Tourette’s syndrome. In the...

Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program Exchange Function Analyses Report Now Available

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Practitioners
June 15, 2018

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a technical report to provide additional details on the empirical analyses that were considered when developing and finalizing the logistic exchange function that will be used to translate Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) performance scores into incentive payments for the Skilled Nursing Facility Value-Based Purchasing (SNF VBP) Program. CMS has adopted the logistic exchange function as the method that will be used to translate SNF performance scores into value-based incentive payments beginning in October 2018 (FY 2019)....

CMS Releases Roadmap to Combat the Opioid Crisis

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Medication, Opioids, Pain Management, Practitioners
June 15, 2018

Although some progress has been made in efforts to combat the opioid epidemic, the latest data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention indicate the crisis is not slowing down. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) published a roadmap outlining efforts to address this issue of national concern. In this roadmap, they detail their three-pronged approach to combating the opioid epidemic, focusing on:

  • Prevention of new cases of opioid use
    • ...

CMS to Host IMPACT Act: Frequently Asked Questions Call — June 21

Health Policy
Skilled Nursing Care, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Practitioners, Quality
June 15, 2018

Thursday, June 21 from 2 to 3 pm ET

Register    for Medicare Learning Network events.

During this call, learn more about the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act). The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (...

Society Resolutions to be Considered at AMA House of Delegates Meeting

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Payment, Medicare Access and CHIP Re-authorization Act (MACRA), Merit-Based Incentive Program Payment System (MIPS), Quality Payment Program (QPP), Electronic Health Records (EHR), Health Information Technology (HIT), Practitioners
June 7, 2018

AMDA-The Society for Post-Acute and Long-Term Care Medicine has been a very active participant within the American Medical Association’s (AMA) House of Delegates (HoD) for many years. The upcoming meeting on June 10-13 in Chicago, Illinois will once again consider two resolutions from the Society – Enabling Attending Physicians to Waive the Three Midnight Rule for Patients Receiving Care Within Downside Risk Sharing...

CMS Says Quality Payment Program Exceeds Year 1 Participation Goal

Health Policy
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), Payment, Medicare Access and CHIP Re-authorization Act (MACRA), Merit-Based Incentive Program Payment System (MIPS), Quality Payment Program (QPP), Electronic Health Records (EHR), Health Information Technology (HIT), Practitioners
June 7, 2018

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that 91 percent of all clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) participated in the first year of the Quality Payment Program (QPP) – exceeding their goal of 90 percent participation. The submission rates for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and clinicians in rural practices were at 98 percent and 94 percent, respectively.

CMS notes that they are still committed to removing more of the regulatory burdens that get in the way of doctors and other clinicians spending time with...