CMS is considering rolling out more alternative payment models this year, Kate Goodrich, MD, director of the Center for Clinical Standards and Quality and CMO for CMS, said, according to a Healthcare Financial Management Association report.
During a March 13 meeting in Washington, D.C., Dr. Goodrich said CMS is "absolutely continuing to move on the train to value-based payments." She added CMS sees moving physicians into advanced APMs under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act as a "top strategic goal."
The statement comes as providers continue to enroll in CMS' recently launched Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced program. The model builds off CMS' first BPCI program, which Dr. Goodrich said taught the agency "what clinicians and providers really need up front to be successful in these models," HFMA reports.
However, CMS' value-based care initiatives have been mixed. BPCI Advanced arrived after CMS canceled its hip fracture and cardiac bundled payment programs and rolled back some mandatory requirements in the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model.
Dr. Goodrich also said CMS is considering overhauling MACRA to simplify reporting, as allowed under the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018. She said CMS is examining each quality metric physicians report under MACRA and may eliminate any that are underperforming, HFMA reports.