Early Learnings from the Bundled Payment Acute Care Episode Demonstration Project

The federal health reform legislation includes several demonstration projects that will be held in the coming years to test new models for care delivery and payment. Hospitals and health systems are encouraged to carefully study the provisions of these upcoming projects and clearly understand their requirements. Early Learnings from the Bundled Payment Acute Care Episode Demonstration Project provides an overview and summary of lessons learned to date from a current CMS pilot project, the CMS Acute Care Episode (ACE) Demonstration Project, which is testing the effect of bundling Part A and B payments for episodes of care on the coordination, quality, and efficiency of care.

The report offers the following lessons learned to date:

• Constructing a framework before the beginning is helpful.
• Getting more patient volume isn't as important as getting market share with the vendors.
• Bringing physicians on board early in the process is vital.
• Understanding that money is not a driving incentive for patients is important.
• Hiring a full time case manager is necessary.
• Having prior health plan experience is a plus.

There is a slide presentation associated with this report.