CMS takes steps to end bundled payment initiatives

CMS has proposed canceling the cardiac and expanded joint replacement bundled payment models.

The rule, which was sent to the Office of Management and Budget last week, would cancel the mandatory bundled payment programs for heart attacks and bypass surgeries as well as expansion of the existing Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model to include surgical treatments for hip and femur fractures. Those bundled payment initiatives have already been delayed twice. They’re currently slated to take effect Jan. 1, 2018.

Physicians would have the opportunity to earn a 5 percent bonus for participating in the cardiac bundles or the expanded CJR model, as the initiatives qualify as Advanced Alternative Payment Models under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act’s Quality Payment Program. Once finalized, the CMS rule would eliminate the bonus opportunity for physicians.

By Ayla Ellison / Becker’s Hospital Review / 8-14-17