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Tags Posts tagged with "ccjr"

ccjr

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In July 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed new bundled payment models to shift Medicare payments from rewarding quantity to rewarding quality by creating strong incentives for hospitals and clinicians to deliver better care to patients at a lower cost. These proposed new bundled payment models focus on heart attacks, heart bypass surgery, and hip fracture surgery, and would reward hospitals that work together with physicians and other providers to avoid complications, prevent hospital readmissions, and speed recovery. This proposal follows the implementation of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CCJR) Model that began earlier this year which introduced bundled payments for certain hip and knee replacements.

CMS just released the second annual evaluation report for Models 2–4 of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative, which include both retrospective and prospective bundled payments that may or may not include the acute inpatient hospital stay for a given episode of care. This report describes the characteristics of the participants and includes quantitative results from the first year of the initiative. Key highlights include:

  • 11 out of the 15 clinical episode groups analyzed showed potential savings to Medicare. Future evaluation reports will have more data to analyze individual clinical episodes within these and additional groups;
  • Orthopedic surgery under Model 2 hospitals showed statistically significant savings of $864 per episode while showing improved quality as indicated by beneficiary surveys. Beneficiaries who received their care at participating hospitals indicated that they had greater improvement after 90 days post-discharge in two mobility measures than beneficiaries treated at comparison hospitals; and
  • Cardiovascular surgery episodes under Model 2 hospitals did not show any savings yet but quality of care was preserved. Over the next year, we will have significantly more data available, enabling CMS to better estimate effects on costs and quality.

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On July 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a proposed rule in the Federal Register, announcing the implementation of a new Medicare Part A and B payment model called the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CCJR) model. Under this model, acute care hospitals in 75 selected geographic areas would receive retrospective bundled payments for episodes of care for lower extremity joint replacement or reattachment of a lower extremity. All related care within 90 days of hospital discharge from the joint replacement procedures will be included in the episode of care.

CMS anticipates the proposed CCJR model would benefit Medicare beneficiaries by improving the coordination and transition of care, improving the coordination of items and services paid through Medicare fee-for-service, encouraging more provider investment in infrastructure and redesigned care process for higher quality and more efficient service delivery, and incentivizing higher value care across the inpatient and post-acute care spectrum spanning the episode of care. According to CMS, hip and knee replacements are the most common inpatient surgery for Medicare beneficiaries and can require lengthy recovery and rehabilitation periods.

CMS proposes to test CCJR for a five year performance period, beginning January 1, 2016, and ending December 31, 2020. Comments will be accepted on the proposals contained in the proposed rule, as well as other alternatives or suggestions, through September 8. Contact Melissa Dehoff at RCPA with questions.