- Joined
- Feb 12, 2007
- Messages
- 413
- Reaction score
- 16
I know plans for this have been in the works for a while with trial programs having been initiated a few years ago, but I'm reminded of how this is not going to bode well for path...
(from the AMA newsletter)
CMS testing program to encourage Medicare payment bundling.
The Hill (8/24, Baker) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog, "Hospitals are interested in the new payment structure that Medicare announced Tuesday, but say they still need to look more closely at the program's financial incentives." HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "said the existing system 'can punish the providers who are most successful' at keeping their patients healthy, and described the new bundled payment program as a way to realign doctors' incentives." Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Association, "was still reviewing the details of what Medicare proposed, but she said it's encouraging that the agency is allowing applicants to design their programs to meet local needs rather than establishing a single, nationwide model."
Kaiser Health News (8/24, Galewitz) compares the initiative to the discount airfare website Priceline, as it will allow healthcare providers to "Name Your Own Price." In order to participate in the program, "providers will have to bid less, in total, than what Medicare would pay each provider separately." [wonderful analogy...] According to Kaiser Health News, "the pilot program announced Tuesday in some ways is an even more modest approach than tried before, because doctors and hospitals can still choose to get paid individually on a fee for each service, albeit at a negotiated discount." HHS Secretary Sebelius called the bundled payments initiative "a key part of our efforts to give patients better health, better care, and lower costs."
The NPR (8/24, Rovner) "Shots" blog reports that "the new bundling proposal would turn that payment system on its head," and "would give all the providers involved an incentive to work more cooperatively." The "flexibility" of the program is being praised by healthcare providers. Blair Childs of the Premier Healthcare Alliance said, "This new alternative to the Medicare shared savings program will provide an on-ramp to those systems beginning the journey to full continuum accountable care, while reinforcing the alternative payment arrangements they may already have underway with private payors."
(from the AMA newsletter)
CMS testing program to encourage Medicare payment bundling.
The Hill (8/24, Baker) reports in its "Healthwatch" blog, "Hospitals are interested in the new payment structure that Medicare announced Tuesday, but say they still need to look more closely at the program's financial incentives." HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "said the existing system 'can punish the providers who are most successful' at keeping their patients healthy, and described the new bundled payment program as a way to realign doctors' incentives." Nancy Foster, vice president for quality and patient safety at the American Hospital Association, "was still reviewing the details of what Medicare proposed, but she said it's encouraging that the agency is allowing applicants to design their programs to meet local needs rather than establishing a single, nationwide model."
Kaiser Health News (8/24, Galewitz) compares the initiative to the discount airfare website Priceline, as it will allow healthcare providers to "Name Your Own Price." In order to participate in the program, "providers will have to bid less, in total, than what Medicare would pay each provider separately." [wonderful analogy...] According to Kaiser Health News, "the pilot program announced Tuesday in some ways is an even more modest approach than tried before, because doctors and hospitals can still choose to get paid individually on a fee for each service, albeit at a negotiated discount." HHS Secretary Sebelius called the bundled payments initiative "a key part of our efforts to give patients better health, better care, and lower costs."
The NPR (8/24, Rovner) "Shots" blog reports that "the new bundling proposal would turn that payment system on its head," and "would give all the providers involved an incentive to work more cooperatively." The "flexibility" of the program is being praised by healthcare providers. Blair Childs of the Premier Healthcare Alliance said, "This new alternative to the Medicare shared savings program will provide an on-ramp to those systems beginning the journey to full continuum accountable care, while reinforcing the alternative payment arrangements they may already have underway with private payors."
- and he is using this as ammunition. 
