DOCSLIB.ORG

HHS Launches New Oncology Care Model

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
HHS Launches New Oncology Care Model HHS Launches New Oncology Care Model The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on February 12 announced a new care delivery model to support better care coordination for cancer care called the Oncology Care Model (OCM). This initiative is the second program announced as part of HHS' new "better care, smarter spending, healthier people" approach to healthcare and promotes models of care developed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI). The OCM is a multi-payer model in which practices will enter into payment arrangements that include financial and performance accountability for episodes of care surrounding chemotherapy administration to cancer patients. This model aims to provide higher quality, more highly coordinated oncology care at a lower cost. It is a five-year model that will begin in spring 2016. MARCH 2015 The OCM intends to improve health outcomes, produce higher quality care, and lower costs by utilizing aligned financial incentives such as performance-based payments to: Improve care coordination; Ensure appropriateness of care; and Increase access for beneficiaries receiving chemotherapy. The goal of the OCM is to reduce healthcare costs as participating practices more effectively address the complex care needs of the cancer patients, increase use of high value services, and decrease use of unnecessary services. According to CMS, "The Oncology Care Model encourages participating practices to improve care and lower costs through episode-based, performance-based payments that financially incentivize high-quality, coordinated care. Participating practices will also receive monthly care management payments for each Medicare fee-for-service beneficiary during an episode to support oncology practice transformation, including the provision of comprehensive, coordinated patient care." Oncology group practices and individual practitioners who provide chemotherapy treatment to cancer patients and are currently enrolled in the Medicare program are eligible to participate in the initiative; however, they must meet the following criteria: Provide the core functions of patient navigation; Document a care plan that contains the 13 components in the Institute of Medicine Care Management Plan outlined in the Institute of Medicine report, "Delivering High-Quality Cancer Care: Charting a New Course for a System in Crisis"; Provide 24 hours a day, 7 days a week patient access to an appropriate clinician who has real-time access to practice's medical records; Treat patients with therapies consistent with nationally recognized clinical guidelines; Use data to drive continuous quality improvement; and Use an ONC-certified electronic health record and attest to Stage 2 of meaningful use by the end of the third model performance year. PAGE 2 To apply for participation in the OCM, practices and payers must submit Letters of Intent (LOIs) to CMMI. LOIs for interested practices are due by 5:00 pm EDT on April 23, 2015. The names of applicants submitting LOIs will be posted publicly to facilitate cooperation between payers and practices prior to model implementation. Providers that submit timely, complete letters of intent (LOIs) will be eligible to submit applications for OCM participation. All applications must be submitted by 5:00 pm EDT on June 18, 2015. For OCM application materials and submission deadlines, click here. To read the CMS press release on the initiative, click here. To download the CMS Fact Sheet, click here. President Obama Releases FY2016 Budget Proposal President Obama released his FY2016 Budget on February 2, which totaled $4 trillion and included more than $400 billion in Medicare cuts. The President's Budget also proposes changes related to the Medicare physician payment system and payment parity reforms for services provided in both the hospital outpatient department and physician office setting. Regarding these proposals, the Budget specifically states: Reforming Medicare Physician Payments to Encourage High-Quality, Efficient Care Cost Estimate: $44 billion over 10 years The Budget adopts the following policies for reforming the way Medicare pays physicians, consistent with recent bipartisan, bicameral legislation: Terminates the Sustainable Growth Rate formula for updating physician payments; Provides a period of stability while promoting participation in alternative payment models that encourage high quality, efficient care; and Streamlines value-based incentives for those physicians remaining outside of alternative payment models. Encourage Efficient Care by Improving Incentives to Provide Care in the Most Appropriate Ambulatory Setting Savings Estimate: $29.5 billion over 10 years The Budget proposes to improve incentives to provide ambulatory care in the most appropriate clinical setting. Evidence suggests that, in recent years, billing of many ambulatory services has been shifting from physicians' offices to the usually higher-paid hospital outpatient department setting, increasing Medicare spending and beneficiary cost-sharing. This proposal helps mitigate the financial implications of this trend by lowering payment for services provided in off-campus hospital outpatient departments under the Outpatient Prospective Payment System to either the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule-based rate or the rate for surgical procedures covered under the Ambulatory Surgical Center payment system. These changes would be phased in over four years beginning in CY 2017, and Secretarial authority would be provided to adjust payments in the event beneficiary access problems arise. PAGE 3 Other Medicare provisions are included below: 10-year cost Medicare Providers (or savings) in $ billions Exclude radiation therapy, advanced imaging, pathology and therapy services from the in-office ancillary services exception unless a practice is clinically integrated and demonstrates cost con- (6.0) tainment Repeal the SGR in a manner consistent with the recent bipartisan, bicameral legislation 44 Incentivize care in the most appropriate ambulatory setting (29.5) Make permanent the Medicare primary care incentive payment; budget neutral --- Value-based purchasing for ASCs, SNFs, home health, HOPDs, and community mental health --- centers beginning 2017 Reduce bad debt payments (31.1) Align GME payments with patient care costs (16.3) Reduce payments for Part B drugs from 106% ASP to 103% (7.4) Reduce CAH payments from 101% of reasonable costs to 100% (1.7) Prohibit CAH designation for facilities less than 10 miles from nearest hospital (0.8) Reduce fraud, waste and abuse (1.8) Adjust payment updates for certain post-acute care providers (102.1) Encourage appropriate use of inpatient rehabilitation hospitals (2.2) Implement bundled post-acute care payments ($9.3) Extend accountability for hospital-acquired conditions --- To download the President's Budget Summary Tables, click here. To download the HHS FY2016 Budget in Brief, click here. CBO Increases SGR Replacement Cost by $30.5 Billion The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released new price estimate for the bipartisan, bicameral proposal to repeal and replace the sustainable growth rate formula, or SGR, on February 5. The new estimates increased the cost by $30.5 billion from the projected costs released last November. The CBO estimates that the compromise legislation approved by the Senate Finance, House Energy & Commerce and House Ways & Means Committees last year would cost $174.5 billion from fiscal 2015 to 2025. In November, CBO put the price tag at $144 billion from fiscal 2015 to 2024. Physicians treating Medicare beneficiaries face an approximate 21 percent payment cut if Congress doesn't act before March 31. PAGE 4 To view the new CBO estimate, click here. Republicans Unveil Affordable Care Act Replacement Plan Senate Finance Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT), Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), and House Energy and Commerce Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) unveiled the Patient Choice, Affordability, Responsibility, and Empowerment (CARE) Act, a legislative plan that repeals the Affordable Care Act (also known as Obamacare) and replaces the President's health care law with alternative reforms, on February 4. According to a press statement, the plan provides a "legislative roadmap" to repeal the President's health care law and replace it with "common-sense" measures to: Establish sustainable, patient-focused reforms Modernize Medicaid to provide better coverage and care to patients Reduce defensive medicine and rein in frivolous lawsuits Increase health care price transparency to empower consumers and patients Reduce distortions in the tax code that drive up health care costs Empower small businesses and individuals with purchasing power To read the Patient CARE Act Summary, click here. To read a two-page summary, click here. To see a comparison of Patient CARE with the Affordable Care Act, click here. CMS Approves Coverage for Lung Cancer Screening On February 5, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it has made a final National Coverage Decision (NCD) for lung cancer screening for qualified beneficiaries, including annual screening for lung cancer with low dose computed tomography (LDCT). To be eligible for LDCT screening, beneficiaries must meet all of the following criteria: Age 55 – 77 years; Asymptomatic (no signs or symptoms of lung cancer); Tobacco smoking history of at least 30 pack-years (one pack-year = smoking one pack per day for one year; 1 pack = 20 cigarettes); Current smoker or one who has quit smoking within
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Oncology Care Model Valerie P
    Value-Based Models Entering Specialties - the Oncology Care Model Valerie P. Csik, MPH, CPPS Project Director, Practice Transformation Sidney Kimmel Cancer Center Thomas Jefferson University Hospital [email protected] Healthcare in the United States is increasingly being shaped by the need to reduce cost and improve efficiency. The result has been the development of value-based models of care, particularly in the growing outpatient setting. The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), created under the 2010 Affordable Care Act legislation, has established three value-based models: Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), Medical Home Models and Bundled Payment Models. The characteristics of each of the models remain the same – a focus on cost of care evaluated against an expected spend, a quality component and financial risk.1 The development of value-based programs has occurred in primary care with the MSSP (Medicare Shared Savings Program) an ACO, and CPC+ (Comprehensive Primary Care), a Medical Home Model. Today, 30% of all beneficiaries in traditional Medicare are being cared for in an ACO or Medical Home.1 In 2016, CMMI initiated an expansion into medical specialties with the Oncology Care Model (OCM). It is projected that 21% more cancer patients will be seen in the outpatient setting than in the inpatient setting by 2027,2 making the target for cost savings in oncology even larger. The Oncology Care Model is a five year demonstration program for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing active chemotherapy intended to achieve better health, improved care and smarter spending as defined by program requirements and a set of metrics on which each participating practice is required to report to CMMI twice per year.3 OCM presents an opportunity to build the infrastructure to support bundled payments and be prepared for future of cancer care.
    [Show full text]
  • CMS Announces Illinois Cancer Specialists Selected for Initiative Promoting Better Cancer Care
    CMS Announces Illinois Cancer Specialists Selected for Initiative Promoting Better Cancer Care CMS Oncology Care Model attracts almost twice the expected number of physician group practices Chicago (July 25, 2016) - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it has selected Illinois Cancer Specialists (ICS) as one of nearly 200 physician group practices and 17 health insurance companies to participate in a care delivery model that supports and encourages higher quality, more coordinated cancer care. The Medicare arm of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) includes more than 3,200 oncologists and will cover approximately 155,000 Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. “At Illinois Cancer Specialists, we are always striving to provide high-quality patient care, and the Oncology Care Model is a cutting-edge program that will help us achieve our goals,” said John Eklund, M.D., oncologist with ICS. “The program emphasizes the same values that we at ICS emphasize, namely providing the best available cancer therapies, consistent with the highest national standards, and optimizing communication with patients, their families and oncology team members. We are excited to be part of this innovative program.” Cancer is one of the most common and devastating diseases in the United States: more than 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and cancer will kill an estimated 600,000 Americans in 2016. According to the National Institutes of Health, based on growth and aging of the U.S. population, medical expenditures for cancer in the year 2020 are projected to reach at least $158 billion (in 2010 dollars) – an increase of 27 percent over 2010.
    [Show full text]
  • Oncology Care First Model: Informal Request for Information
    Oncology Care First Model: Informal Request for Information Overview The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) is seeking feedback regarding a potential new model for value-based payment to support high-quality oncology care. We appreciate your continued support and engagement with the Innovation Center and the ongoing Oncology Care Model (OCM), and hope to engage you as we develop a new payment and service delivery model that builds on OCM. The Innovation Center is releasing this informal Request for Information (RFI) and holding a public listening session (please refer to page 3 for more details) in order to gather feedback on the design of a potential Oncology Care First (OCF) Model. The Innovation Center welcomes stakeholder input on the ideas included in this informal RFI. Model Goals As currently conceptualized, the OCF Model would test whether an innovative approach to prospectively paying for management and drug administration services provided by oncology practitioners, together with a total cost of care accountability, reduces program expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries with cancer or a cancer-related diagnosis.1 The multi-payer aspect of this potential model could also encourage more comprehensive oncology practice transformation and provide the opportunity to improve the quality of care and decrease costs for non- Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) oncology patients. The potential OCF Model would be a new
    [Show full text]
  • The Evolution of Oncology Payment Models: What Can We Learn from Early Experiments?
    The evolution of oncology payment models: What can we learn from early experiments? Executive summary Pioneering health plans and provider groups are • Several of the early pilots have lowered costs experimenting with value-based payment models by reducing variability in drug spending and in oncology to try to improve the cost-effectiveness using fewer emergency room (ER) and inpatient of cancer care. They are piloting these models in the admissions. (See Table 2.) commercial market—financial incentives for adhering • Applying these results to our analysis of commercial to clinical pathways, patient-centered medical homes plan claims data shows that implementing these (PCMHs), bundled payments, and accountable care strategies can reduce spending by 22 percent across organizations (ACOs)—and it is uncertain which 1,385 episodes studied. Episodes include all costs will achieve the dual goals of improving outcomes over a six-month period, starting at the first dose and controlling costs. We interviewed health plans of chemotherapy. This savings estimate could be and providers participating in emerging payment considered conservative; the analysis evaluated stage models to review early results (financial and clinical), 1 breast cancer patients where the variability in using understand which approaches are working, and discuss high-cost services tends to be lower than patients with considerations for these models’ future evolution. Key more advanced disease. findings from our qualitative research and analysis of oncology claims are: • While successful in reducing costs, most pilots to date have described performance on key quality measures, • PCMHs and bundled payments without downside risk such as survival, recurrence, and complications, as are the most common types of payment models being staying the same; a few have seen improvement.
    [Show full text]
  • Oncology Care Model (OCM) Request for Applications (RFA) February 2015
    Oncology Care Model (OCM) Request for Applications (RFA) February 2015 Contents I. Background/General Information .................................................................................................... 3 A. Scope ................................................................................................................................................ 3 B. General Approach ............................................................................................................................ 3 C. Deadlines for Letter of Intent and Application ................................................................................ 4 II. Description of the Oncology Care Model ......................................................................................... 4 A. Purpose ............................................................................................................................................ 4 B. Model Overview ............................................................................................................................... 5 C. Multi-Payer Structure ...................................................................................................................... 5 D. Episode Definition ............................................................................................................................ 6 E. Beneficiary Alignment ...................................................................................................................... 7 F. Benchmarking and Risk Adjustment
    [Show full text]
  • CMS Oncology Care Model Attracts Almost Twice the Expected Number of Physician Group Practices
    CMS Announces Dayton Physicians Network Selected for Initiative Promoting Better Cancer Care CMS Oncology Care Model attracts almost twice the expected number of physician group practices The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that it has selected Dayton Physicians Network as one of nearly 200 physician group practices and 17 health insurance companies to participate in a care delivery model that supports and encourages higher quality, more coordinated cancer care. The Medicare arm of the Oncology Care Model includes more than 3,200 oncologists and will cover approximately 155,000 Medicare beneficiaries nationwide. Dr. Charles Bane, Medical Oncologist and President of Dayton Physicians Network- Cancer Care and Urology stated “Dayton Physicians Network is thrilled to be involved in the Oncology Care Model, designed to further enhance access to care and quality of service for our cancer patients.” Cancer is one of the most common and devastating diseases in the United States: more than 1.6 million new cases of cancer will be diagnosed and cancer will kill an estimated 600,000 Americans in 2016. According to the National Institutes of Health, based on growth and aging of the U.S. population, medical expenditures for cancer in the year 2020 are projected to reach at least $158 billion (in 2010 dollars) – an increase of 27 percent over 2010. A significant proportion of those diagnosed are over 65 years old and Medicare beneficiaries. “The Oncology Care Model encourages greater collaboration, information sharing, and care coordination, so that patients get the care they need, when they need it,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia M.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring Approaches for Value-Based Reimbursement of Oncology Therapies October 3, 2017 ● Washington, DC
    Exploring approaches for value-based reimbursement of oncology therapies October 3, 2017 ● Washington, DC Backgrounder Introduction Advances in cancer care over the last thirty years have resulted in improved outcomes for patients.1 Between 1970 and 2000, the five-year breast cancer survival rate increased from 75% to 90% and the one-year lung cancer survival rate increased from 34% to 45%; overall, the cancer death rate in the United States (US) dropped 13% between 2004 and 2013.2-5 More recently, new immunotherapies have offered better outcomes for particularly challenging cancers, including late stage melanoma.1 However, with these advances, spending has risen dramatically. In the US, cancer care accounts for nearly 30% of healthcare costs, totaling $87.8 billion in 2014.6-8 Furthermore, while the rate of increase in specialty drug prices in the US has slowed, spending continues to increase, with oncology treatments as the second and third highest reimbursed therapies in Medicare and commercial insurance, respectively.9 The proliferation of targeted immunotherapies and other expensive, innovative mechanisms of action (e.g., Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T-Cell Therapy) signal that cancer care spending trends are not likely to improve in the near future. At the same time, care is becoming more complicated, and the type of treatment that will be successful may not be the same for each patient. As a result, payment and reimbursement of care and therapy in the oncology space have been changing in the past few years to emphasize value and patient outcomes.10,11 Specifically, payers are engaging with providers to implement value-based care through alternative payment models (APMs), including episodic payments to help curb cost and optimize outcomes.
    [Show full text]
  • CMS OCM Key Drivers and Change Package
    KEY DRIVERS AND CHANGE PACKAGE Original Publication: August 4, 2016 Revised : June 1, 2020 Prepared by: Booz Allen Hamilton OCM Key Drivers and Change Package Revision History Version Date Description of Changes 1.0 8/4/2016 Initial version 2.0 9/6/2017 • Included updated references for each section • Updated Driver Diagram to better illustrate multi-payer participation and support of the Oncology Care Model (OCM) o Primary Driver “Strategic Use of Revenue” changed to “Strategic Plan” o Primary Driver “OCM Payments” changed to “Management of Appropriate Payment Structure,” and includes new secondary driver “Set Benchmarks” • Updated the Access and Continuity secondary driver: o Added reference to Case Study #1: Reducing Potentially Avoidable Hospitalizations and Emergency Department Utilization o Added five new toolkits/implementation guides • Updated the Care Coordination secondary driver to include one new toolkit/implementation guide • Updated the Patient and Caregiver Engagement secondary driver: o Made minor edits to the change tactics and evidence for all change concepts o Added a new change tactic to “Provide non-monetary incentives, tools or technology for health behavior change” o Added four new toolkits/implementation guides • Updated the Team-Based Care secondary driver: o Included additional change tactics for the different change concepts o Added three new toolkits/implementation guides • Updated the Data-driven Quality Improvement secondary driver: o Included two new change tactics o Added three new toolkits/implementation
    [Show full text]
  • A Community-Based Oncology Medical Home Model
    A Community-Based Oncology Medical Home Model November 2019 About ASCO Founded in 1964, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, Inc. (ASCO®) is committed to making a world of difference in cancer care. As the world’s leading organization of its kind, ASCO represents nearly 45,000 oncology professionals who care for people living with cancer. Through research, education, and promotion of the highest-quality patient care, ASCO works to conquer cancer and create a world where cancer is prevented or cured, and every survivor is healthy. Conquer Cancer, the ASCO Foundation, supports the Society by funding groundbreaking research and education across cancer’s full continuum. Learn more at www.ASCO.org, explore patient education resources at www.Cancer.Net, and follow us on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and YouTube. To learn more about ASCO’s work on improving quality and value in oncology care, we refer readers to the following articles: • ASCO Principles for Patient-Centered Healthcare Reform • ASCO Guidance Statement: The Cost of Cancer Care • ASCO Criteria for High-Quality Clinical Pathways in Oncology • ASCO Position Statement on Addressing the Affordability of Cancer Drugs • ASCO Statement: Towards Individualized Care for Patients with Advanced Cancer Copyright © 2019 American Society of Clinical Oncology. All rights reserved. A Message from ASCO’s President Dear Colleague: The cancer care delivery system is facing extreme pressures amid rapidly developing science, rising costs, growing financial burden for patients, payer-imposed utilization management practices, and much more. As the healthcare landscape shifts from a fee-for-service to a value-based reimbursement system, innovative payment models are needed to help practices adapt and thrive in this high-stakes environment.
    [Show full text]
  • WHITE PAPER Addressing Challenges in the Transition to Value-Based Care and Alternative Payment Models a Case Study in the Oncology Care Model
    MILLIMAN WHITE PAPER Addressing challenges in the transition to value-based care and alternative payment models A case study in the Oncology Care Model Maggie Alston, CHFP Christine Ferro L. Daniel Muldoon, MA Pamela Pelizzari, MPH Payment for healthcare in the United States is shifting from Core components of APM payment volume-based to value-based. With this shift, an array of alternative payment models have emerged that introduce methodologies challenges along with opportunities for providers. These APMs can be structured in myriad ways. Some focus on a single alternative payment models (APMs) are on the rise, either as procedure, device, or pharmaceutical product, while others are standalone contracts or as supplemental contracts to geared toward the total cost of care for a bundle of services or for traditional reimbursement arrangements. APMs aim to shift all services in a given timeframe. Because of the wide variety of payment from volume to value by aligning incentives that APMs, there is also a wide variety of APM payment prioritize high quality and efficient care over high volume and methodologies tailored to the care, services, or products included inefficient care. Efforts by the Centers for Medicare and in the model. However, APM payment methodologies frequently Medicaid Services (CMS) such as the Bundled Payment for include similar core components. Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative, the Comprehensive Care COMPARISON POPULATION for Joint Replacement (CJR) model, and the Medicare Shared APM participants are typically measured against a comparison Savings Program (MSSP) are examples of Medicare fee-for- population, which can be used as a benchmark to determine a service (FFS) APMs focused on medical services.
    [Show full text]
  • Optimal Oncology Alternative Payment Models
    Optimal Oncology Alternative Payment Models April 2019 Managing risk and ensuring effective care delivery in an accountable-care paradigm Executive Summary The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently reiterated its commitment to transition more providers to two-sided risk alternative payment models (APMs).1 Ever mindful of CMS’s direction and leadership in payment reform, oncologists and commercial payers developing their own APMs in oncology are increasingly focused on the role of risk in incenting a shift to value-oriented care without threatening practices’ financial viability. The question of whether and how much risk is needed for accountable care was top of mind for participants in the oncology APMs advisory council, which gathered in March 2019 in Washington, DC. The council serves as a platform for leading designers and implementers of oncology APMs to learn from one another and catalyze new thinking and approaches to improve pilots in this space. The broad issue of accountability in oncology care underlay other meeting topics. These included the need to meaningfully measure provider performance and inducing effective care delivery through use of clinical pathways, which are quality-focused treatment protocols for specific types and subtypes of cancer. During the meeting, participants considered the following questions: • In two-sided risk models, can reinsurance2 protect practices from catastrophic loss? • How can outcomes-based quality measures be practically implemented? • What is the near-term direction for clinical pathways in promoting effective, value-based care? • What new APMs are being developed? And do they still matter in today’s dynamic policy environment? To address these questions, the council welcomed experts from Milliman and the Tufts Center for the Evaluation of Value and Risk in Health (CEVR) to share findings from new research on the value of reinsurance and outcome measures, respectively.
    [Show full text]
  • Oncology Care Management – the Next Horizon for Value-Based Purchasing
    Oncology Care Management – The Next Horizon for Value-Based Purchasing Oncology Care Management – The Next Horizon for Value-Based Purchasing By Jennifer Dreyfus, M. Bioethics, MBA Medicare and other payers have begun transitioning from traditional fee-for-service payment systems to provider compensation that is based on value and quality. By 2016, Health and Human Services (HHS) intends to tie 30 percent of Medicare payments to alternative payment models such as bundled payment arrangements, increasing to 50 percent by the end of 2018. Joined by key leadership in the physician and private payer communities, Medicare believes that such changes build upon a common interest in delivering better care, spending healthcare dollars more wisely and improving the health of beneficiaries. So far, Medicare is generally pleased with the initial results of new payment models such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACO), primary care medical homes and bundled payments for episodes of care. Cancer Care is One of Medicare’s Focus Areas Cancer care is clearly one of the areas in which Medicare would like to pilot value and quality payment systems. Oncology can best be described as “ground zero in the health system’s transition from volume to value,” according to Paul Keckley, Ph.D. The forces driving payers to focus on oncology include increasing prevalence and demand, improving survival rates, accelerating pace of innovation in diagnostics and therapeutics, increased public attention, and increased costs. Payers are Exploring Innovative Compensation Arrangements That Support Quality and Value Five recent payer initiatives highlight the increased focus on oncology services: 1. Medicare’s Oncology Care Model: Through this pilot program sponsored by CMS’s Innovation Center, Medicare seeks to improve care coordination, appropriateness of care and access to care for Medicare beneficiaries undergoing chemotherapy.
    [Show full text]