Huge thanks to Todd Montigney and Diane Link of BlackTree Healthcare Consulting for their webinar today. They discussed the implications of the 2016 Medicare rate changes and the proposed Value-Based Purchasing Model. Massachusetts is one of nine states randomly selected by CMS to test a Medicare payment model that would increase payments to agencies that score high on quality measures, and penalize agencies that score low. Diane did a particularly good job of explaining how CMS will compare agency performance on 29 quality measures with statewide benchmarks to calculate an overall score to determine how much an agency’s payments will be adjusted up or down.
If you missed the webinar, you can download the Powerpoint presentation here and click here to listen to a recording of the session for the next 14 days.
The Alliance will be preparing comments to CMS on the proposed update to Medicare rates as well as on the Value-Based Purchasing proposal, and would like to hear suggestions from members.
Are you looking forward to VBP, or are you dreading it? What do you think of the 29 measures CMS plans to track – too many? And how about their proposal to adjust rates in 2018 by as much as 5% up or down based on agencies’ quality scores in 2016?
Give us your thoughts by emailing to Alliance Executive Director Pat Kelleher by September 1st. Or better yet, submit your own comments to CMS here.
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