New – The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation

The Affordable Care Act also required CMS to create the “Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation” also known as the Innovation Center, which will “explore innovations in healthcare delivery and payment” designed to:

• enhance the quality of care for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries,
• improve the health of the population, and
• lower costs through improvement.

The Center will consult with hospitals, doctors, consumers, payers, states, employers, advocates, relevant federal agencies and others to obtain direct input and build partnerships to create:

• Better care for individuals by improving care for patients in formal care settings and developing innovations that make care safer, more patient-centered, efficient, effective, timely and equitable.  The program also includes promoting the use of “bundled payments” where providers collaborate to manage multiple procedures as part of a single episode with a single payment rather than the current fee-for-service model.
• Coordinate care to improve health outcomes for patientsby developing models that make it easier for doctors and clinicians in different care settings to work together to care for a patient.
• Community care models by exploring steps to improve public health and identify interventions of concern such as obesity, smoking and heart disease.

In conjunction with the launch of the Innovation Center, CMS is also announcing new initiatives to improve care for patients enrolled in the Medicare and Medicaid programs such as:

• Expansion of the Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration- Eight states have been chosen to participate (ME, VT, RI, NY, PA, NC, Michigan and Minnesota.)  This project will evaluate the effectiveness of doctors and other health professionals working in a more integrated fashion and receiving payment from Medicare, Medicaid and private plans. CMS projects the participation of over 1,200 medical homes serving approximately 1 million patients.
• Federally Qualified HealthCenter (FQHC) and Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration – This will test the effectiveness of providers working in teams to treat low-income patients at community health centers.  CMS projects up to 500 FQHCs will participate in providing patient -centered, coordinated care to approximated 195,000 patients with Medicare.

• Medicare Health HomeState Plan Option – States will adopt plans that allow Medicaid patients with at least two (2) chronic conditions to designate a provider as a “health home” to help coordinate treatments for the patient.  States that participate will receive financial resources from the federal government to help support the health home.
• Future demonstrations willexamine programs that fully integrate care for individuals who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid which accounts for 16%-18% of enrollees in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.

CMS states that by 2012, the Innovation Center will be a partner in over 1,500 patient-centered primary care practices that will provide integrated, coordinated care to millions of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries as well as others who receive care in these systems.

You may view the Innovations Center website by clicking below:

CMS Innovations Center

Tags: Healthcare Reform