Physicians reduced the risk of heart disease and stroke among patients under a CMS pilot program that rewarded them for prioritizing people with more severe health conditions, according to a study published Oct. 17 in JAMA. Notably, the program did not lead to any increase in overall healthcare expenses.
Researchers followed 342 patients ages 40 to 79 who had not previously had a heart attack or stroke but had a high or medium heart disease risk. Their outcomes were tracked from 2017 to 2021.
Patients were treated at 516 primary care and specialty practices nationwide. The practices received Medicare payments for calculating a cardiovascular disease risk score for all fee-for-service beneficiaries. CMS further rewarded the practices for improving outcomes — such as blood pressure and cholesterol levels — among these patients.
Researchers found the model cut the risk of a first-time heart attack or stroke by 0.3 percentage points during the study period without statistically significant changes in Medicare spending.
"With CMS payments and organizations' commitment to routine CVD risk assessment, the Million Hearts Model reduced the incidence of first-time MIs and strokes over five years, without significant changes in Medicare spending," researchers concluded. "Results suggest a promising approach to improve CVD outcomes and support guidelines about risk scoring for CVD primary prevention."