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FALL
CONFERENCE WORKSHOPS AND SESSION CHAIRS ANNOUNCED
Join us September 7–9
for the NAACOS Fall Conference at the Marriott Marquis in Washington, D.C. The agenda
will feature leading ACO experts and CMS officials sharing timely and essential
information for ACOs. Session topics will include:
- Highlight & Share, Don’t Rank & Spank! Best Approaches in Motivating
Clinician Quality Improvement in ACOs, chaired by Bob Rauner, OneHealth Nebraska
ACO
- Community Engagement Topics to Reduce Admissions and Readmissions, chaired by
Rob Mechanic, Institute for Accountable Care
- Beneficiary Engagement and Education on Medicare Models and Differences from MA,
chaired by Chelsea Graves, Aledade
- Measurement of Remote Patient Monitoring for Positive Outcomes from the Provider
Perspective, chaired by Rob Fields, Mount Sinai Health System
- Affiliate and Preferred Provider Agreements: Requirements, Shared Responsibility
and Compensation Models Options, chaired by Jessica Martensen, Essentia Health
- Governance and Leadership Structure for ACOs, chaired by Tori Bratcher, Trinity
Health
- Critical Policy Updates for ACOs, ACO REACH, and DCEs, chaired by Rob Daley,
NAACOS
- Attribution Logic for Provider and Practice Assignment in Reports for MSSP,
REACH, and MA
- Quality Measurement chaired by Jennifer Gasperini, NAACOS
- Successful Small ACOs and IPAs: How to Survive Without Consolidation, chaired by
Brian Hammer, NAACOS
- Value Base Contracting 101 chaired by Anthony Reed, Christiana Care
As always, the entire conference will be recorded, and all participants, both in-person
and virtual, will be able to view any sessions they missed live for six months following
the conference. Register before July 15 for the in-person conference and receive a
discount of $300 per person. Can’t attend in person? Register for our live webcast
before July 15 and receive a discount of $100 per person. Register now! Two pre-conference workshops on Wednesday,
September 7 from 1:00 to 5:00 pm can enrich your conference learning. These workshops
require separate registration from the main meeting. The two workshops will be focused
on:
- Preparing for eCQM Reporting, chaired by Anna Taylor, MultiCare Connected Care
- ACO REACH Compliance and Waivers
Exhibitor and Sponsor opportunities are available!
The fall
conference features exhibitors with products and services specifically for the
accountable care community. Sponsorship increases visibility for our industry partners.
Reserve your space
today!
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Welcome
New Business Partner
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MDInteractive
MDinteractive
is a physician and former ACO leader-led CMS Qualified Registry
focused on data tracking and submission for Medicare quality
programs including the APM Performance Pathway, CMS Web Interface,
MIPS, and Primary Care First.
mdinteractive.com
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CONGRESS
WRESTLES WITH BIPARTISANSHIP
This week Congress returned with
bipartisan consensus on gun legislation, a rarity in this Congress’ hyper-partisan
atmosphere, but also continued work on January 6th commission, which the Democrats
expect to grow support for the mid-term elections. At the same time, significant
activity on healthcare issues, such as drug pricing, is advancing. The Senate Health,
Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee marked up a drug pricing bill, with
considerable discussion of drug importation clauses—again, an issue that received some
unanticipated bipartisan support. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), now with a
majority of Democrat commissioners following Senate confirmation of a new Democrat
commissioner a few weeks ago, held a two-day workshop on mergers and consolidation in
the pharmaceutical industry, with related discussion of consolidation across the supply
chain, including healthcare provider entities, pharmacies, and insurers. With only a few
weeks until the August Recess, Members of Congress are balancing a desire to advance
issues that they can talk about on the campaign trail. As we approach the mid-term
elections, the prospect of an end-of-Congress vehicle, including a number of healthcare
related items, appears more likely than a near-term legislative package.
MSSP
PHASE 1 APPLICATION WINDOW NOW OPEN
Last week, June 7 marked the
deadline for ACOs to submit a Notice of Intent to Apply (NOIA) for a 2023 agreement
start date in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). As of June 8, the Phase 1
application window is open through June 29 at 12:00 pm ET. CMS has made available an application toolkit, a chart with key actions and deadlines for the application cycle, as well as
sample applications and other guidance documents for ACOs applying to the program on the
Application Types & Timeline page. Following the Phase 1
application window, August 4 will be the last opportunity for ACOs to add ACO
participants and/or skilled nursing facility (SNF) affiliates, and September 9 will be
the last opportunity to remove ACO participants and/or SNF affiliates. As a reminder,
dates are subject to change, and NAACOS will continue to monitor and update our members
if changes occur.
JOIN
US TOMORROW FOR THE NEXT DC LEARNING DISCUSSION
NAACOS’ June Direct
Contracting (DC) Learning Discussion will take place this Friday, June 17 from 12:00 to
1:00 pm ET. We will discuss recent Q1 trend adjustment, continuing advocacy in support
of ACO REACH, and other issues. Participation is limited to those participating in the
model in 2022. As such, advanced registration is required. If you have questions or
additional topics you want discussed, please share them in advance by emailing [email protected].
The point is to make these discussions collaborative and a forum for shared learning. We
ask that you come prepared to share your questions and perspectives, as well as to react
to issues at hand.
UPDATED
BCAPA REPORTS NOW AVAILABLE
Comparing standardized beneficiary spending
and utilization measures across MSSP ACOs is critical to achieving better care, better
health, and smarter spending. To help members get an accurate picture their ACOs’
performance relative to peers, NAACOS has recently updated its Benchmarking Comparison and
Performance Analysis (BCAPA) web-based reporting tool. The latest BCAPA reports
allow ACOs to compare their performance with national and state ACO peer groups on Part
A and Part B beneficiary spending and utilization measures. With this tool, users can
navigate across years, ACO beneficiary categories, and comparison groups. Users can
select wage standardized or unadjusted comparisons, and reports are easily exported to
Excel.
Much of the BCAPA data is available to ACO members without a fee or
at a significant discount.
We will continue enhancing BCA adding new
features and measures. Your feedback is important to help make this a valuable member
service. Please send your questions, comments, and recommendations to [email protected].
SENATORS
RELEASE TELE-MENTAL HEALTH DISCUSSION DRAFT
Last month, the Senate
Finance Committee released a discussion draft of legislation to expand tele-mental
health coverage for Medicare and Medicaid. The draft legislation removes Medicare’s
in-person visit requirements for tele-mental health services, preserves audio-only
coverage, educates beneficiaries about coverage, and directs CMS to promote and support
provider use of telehealth. The discussion draft is the first in a series of mental
health bills the committee is expected to release and consider this summer. Some
elements of the legislation are also under consideration to be included in a bipartisan
gun safety and mental health package that’s being negotiated by lawmakers. Mental health
care is an important component of patients’ overall health, and NAACOS looks forward to
engaging with Congress as this work continues.
UPDATED
ATTRIBUTION RESOURCE NOW AVAILABLE
As MSSP ACOs prepare for the
upcoming change request and application cycle, NAACOS updated its helpful resource that explains the difference between
prospective and retrospective attribution. We hope this helps ACOs make more informed
decisions about this important selection. This resource explains the pros and cons of
either choice, which can be changed annually as part of the change requestion and
application cycle. In 2022, 38 percent of MSSP ACOs use prospective attribution,
compared to 62 percent that use retrospective attribution. This resource and other
information can be found on NAACOS’ beneficiary attribution page.
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RESOURCE
REVIEW: BENCHMARK AND SHARED SAVINGS
NAACOS
has several past presentations from our past conferences and
webinars that can provide additional insight into how to calculate
or predict your benchmark and understand options for shared savings
distribution. Check them out using the following links.
You can also search key words on our
website for these and other topics of interest.
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CMS
BLOG DISCUSSES NEW QUALITY STRATEGY
CMS recently authored a blog post detailing the agency’s goal to move forward this
summer on the recently released National Quality Strategy. The CMS National Quality
Strategy focuses on eight key areas and includes a goal to move to more digital quality
measurement across CMS as well as advancing health equity, among others. In the recently
published blog, CMS also notes its intention to increase alignment across quality
reporting and value-based payment programs as well as plans to increase collaboration
with stakeholders to achieve these goals. CMS will begin holding listening sessions with
stakeholders on these issues this summer.
NAACOS
PUBLISHES SUMMARY OF CPC+ RESULTS
Last week, NAACOS published an ACO-specific summary of the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus
(CPC+) 4th annual evaluation report. The report, recently released by CMS, found
that practices simultaneously participating in CPC+ and the MSSP were more successful in
controlling costs and reducing unnecessary utilization than non-MSSP practices in CPC+.
In Performance Year (PY) 4, which corresponds with Calendar Year 2020, Track 1 CPC+
practices also participating in MSSP were able to reduce outpatient emergency department
(ED) visits, reduce acute hospitalizations, and reduce total Medicare expenditures.
These results suggest a positive interplay between the two programs, with MSSP
participation offsetting revenue-generating motivations for hospitals and providing
greater control over spending by implementing primary care practice transformation
efforts within a total cost of care framework. CMS notes that this outcome is consistent
with expectations about possible alignment between incentives and supports offered by
CPC+ and MSSP. NAACOS’ comparison of CPC+ and Medicare ACOs includes additional details
on how the programs interact.
PTAC
PUBLISHES RESOURCE POPULATION-BASED TCOC MODELS
This month, the
Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) hosted the second in
a series of theme-based discussions on the role that population-based total cost of care
(TCOC) models can play in optimizing health care delivery and value transformation in
the context of alternative payment models (APMs) and physician-focused payment models
(PFPMs). This public meeting, hosted on June 7–8, focused on care delivery strategies
for population-based TCOC models, such as ACOs. In conjunction with this session, PTAC
published a supplemental resource on best practices and innovations in care
delivery for such models. This resource builds on an environmental scan on issues related to the development of
population-based TCOC models that was published in March 2022. PTAC staff also reviewed responses to the request for input on population-based
TCOC models issued by the committee earlier this year. NAACOS’ detailed comments are available. The third and final session in this series will be hosted on September 19–20,
2022.
REPORT
PROJECTS EXTENSION OF THE MEDICARE TRUST FUND
Medicare’s Hospital
Insurance Trust Fund is projected by its Board of Trustees to go insolvent by 2028 —two
years later than projected last year. The extra two years comes from a stronger economic
bounce back and sicker, more costly patients dying from COVID. The pandemic won’t affect
long-term solvency of the program either, trustees say in their 2022 report. The report notes the impact of cost savings
generated by ACOs and calls for more investment into these payment models given the
potential to further help with cost savings and prolong the Medicare Trust Fund. The
trustees call for urgent action to address Medicare’s solvency, and, given they single
out ACOs and payment reform as a solution, NAACOS plans to use this report in future
advocacy and communications.
DCE’S
2021 PRELIMINARY REPORTS RELEASED, TO BE MADE PUBLIC
Participants in
the Global and Professional Direct Contracting Model should have received their
preliminary 2021 settlement reports earlier this month. Results are just preliminary
given the quality benchmarks weren’t immediately available due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There is also a provisional settlement happening this summer and then final settlement
next year. NAACOS inquired and was told by CMS that the agency still plans to publicly
release 2021 results this fall, as the agency usually does annually with ACO performance
results. NAACOS is planning its own press release and encourages members to publicly
share their individual results. This NAACOS media kit is available to help DCEs in that process.
NAACOS
PUBLISHES AJAC COMMENTARY IN SUPPORT OF ACO REACH
As part of our
continued advocacy supporting the ACO REACH Model and changes announced to it earlier
this year, NAACOS authored a commentary explaining why those changes are good and why
the model shouldn’t be terminated. The piece was published online in the American
Journal of Accountable Care (AJAC). Arguments include REACH’s emphasis on health equity,
improved oversight from CMS, increased provider and beneficiary voice, and others.
Despite calls from progressive lawmakers, the administration needs to increase
participation in accountable care models like ACO REACH to improve patient care and
quality. Find the piece on AJAC’s website and feel free to share via your social media
channels.
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