AHA Recommends CMS Delay Bundled Payment Model Application Deadline

The AHA yesterday recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services provide a complete package of information on its new Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model by March 1, and delay the program’s application deadline from March 12 to April 16. “Our members support the health care system moving toward the provision of more accountable, coordinated care and are redesigning delivery systems to increase value and better serve patients,” wrote AHA Executive Vice President Tom Nickels. “As such, the AHA agrees with the principles underlying the BPCI Advanced model and believes it could help further these efforts to transform care delivery through better aligned incentives for providers, as well as through performance and financial accountability. In addition, the AHA appreciates that CMS designed the BPCI Advanced model to qualify as an advanced alternative payment model under the Quality Payment Program established by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015. However, CMS’s announcement of BPCI Advanced and the corresponding materials raise important questions for our members about the model’s implementation. Of particular concern is the lack of sufficient operational detail about the model, making it difficult for hospitals and clinicians to make well-informed decisions as to participation.”