ACO roundup: CMS asks docs to weigh in on MIPS reporting requirements

• CMS seeks clinicians to participate in MIPS survey. CMS is seeking health care providers to participate in a study to help the agency assess how reporting requirements under MACRA's Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) is affecting clinicians' workflow and whether the program is creating hardships for providers. CMS is planning to launch the survey in April and complete the survey in March 2019. Clinicians interested in participating in the survey can sign up through March 23. CMS said participating in the survey will fulfill MIPS' clinical improvement category for 2018.


• How an Intermountain pilot program cut participants' readmission rate by 65%. A pilot program at Intermountain Healthcare that empowers family members to help care for their loved ones enhanced care for patients—and cut readmissions among participants by 65%, according to a study in CHEST. Family members participating in the program, called Partners in Healing, learned some basic skills related to the specific needs of the patient and were authorized to access certain supplies, such as blankets and snacks, on behalf of the patient, among other responsibilities. After controlling for age, gender, and severity of illness, the researchers found that the 30-day readmission rate was 65% lower among patients whose families participated in the program than among those whose loved ones did not.


• CMS moves ahead with voluntary bundled payment model deadline. CMS plans to keep the March 12 application deadline for its voluntary  Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model, declining the American Hospital Association's (AHA) request to postpone the deadline until April 16. In a letter to CMS Administrator Seema Verma, AHA said CMS' information on the model raises "important questions for our members about the model's implementation," including "the lack of sufficient operational detail about the model, [which] mak[es] it difficult for hospitals and clinicians to make well-informed decisions as to participation." However, a CMS official said the March 12 deadline cannot be postponed and noted that applicants who need additional time could apply to the program in 2020.

From Advisory Board:

• Cost control atlas: Learn the current trends in hospital and system margin performance. Join us on Thursday, Mar. 15, where 20 best practices will be presented, drawn from across our research teams and represent an "all hands on deck" system-wide approach to maintaining margin performance.

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• How one community's partnerships are transforming house and health care for the homeless. Join us on Wednesday, Mar. 21, where you'll learn how the University of Vermont Medical Center developed sustainable partnerships with multiple community-based organizations to address their patients' unmet housing and health care needs.

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• Get straight on MACRA. Join us on Tuesday, Mar. 27, to learn some common FAQs about MIPS, and how you can set a compliant path to QPP success

Register Here