More than 359,000 clinicians will participate in four of CMS' alternative payment models in 2017, the agency said Wednesday.
CMS said the numbers demonstrate providers' commitment to a healthcare system that pays for the quality of care delivered to patients. Under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, APMs that require providers to bear more than nominal risk will qualify as "advanced." Clinicians participating in advanced APMs can earn a lump sum bonus of up to 5 percent on Medicare payments.
Here are five things to know about CMS' APM participants.
1. CMS' APMs include three types of ACOs — the Medicare Shared Savings Program, the Next Generation ACO Model and the Comprehensive End-Stage Renal Disease Care Model — as well as the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus Model. More than 12.3 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries will be served by clinicians participating in APMs this year.
2. There are 572 ACOs participating in the MSSP, Next Generation ACO Model and CEC Model payment initiatives combined. Under those alternative payment models, 131 ACOs are in a risk-bearing track. Large dialysis organizations and non-LDO two-sided risk arrangements under the CEC Model, all Next Generation ACOs, risk-bearing tracks of the MSSP and the CPC+ Model will qualify as advanced APMs for the 2017 performance year of MACRA. The two-sided risk arrangement under the Oncology Care Model will also qualify as an advanced APM in 2017.
3. Ninety-nine participants joined the MSSP for 2017 and 79 returned to the program, bringing the total number of participants to 480 in all U.S. states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico. Twenty-eight participants joined the Next Generation ACO Model for 2017, bringing the total number of participants to 45. And under the CEC Model, 24 participants joined this year, making the total number of participants 47.
4. For CPC+, 2,893 primary care practices will participate in the model.
5. Joe Damore, vice president of population health management at Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier — a healthcare group purchasing and solutions organization that assisted more than 80 eligible MSSP and Next Generation ACO participants in joining the AMPs —issued a response to the announcement: "The vast participation in Medicare APMs is a clear signal that the shift to value-based payment and care delivery will continue to grow and likely accelerate as providers evaluate APMs under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act."