HHS To Implement Pay-For-Performance Models For Primary Care Practices Serving Medicare

Two weeks ago, the Department of Human and Health Services (HHS) unveiledthe "Primary Cares Initiative," a program that aims to "reduce administrative burdens" and enable primary care physicians to earn "performance-based payments" if they deliver care to Medicare patients that meets certain targets and decreases downstream healthcare costs.

CMS has posted a request for applications for the first cohort of primary care practices. The program is intended to go into effect January 2020 and continue for five years.

It is hoped that if the Primary Cares Initiative is successful in Medicare, state Medicaid programs and commercial payers will follow suit. The ultimate purpose of the initiative, according to the Director of HHS, Alex Azar, is to move primary care from a fee-for-service to a value-based system, predicated on paying for healthcare outcomes rather than numbers of procedures.

The full Forbes article can be viewed at this link.