Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Medicare Moves To Help Doctors Know Which Patients Are Assigned To ACOs
Modern Healthcare: Medicare To Divulge When A Doc's Patient Is In An ACO
The CMS is making a more concerted effort to make sure doctors know which patients they're responsible for in Medicare accountable care organizations. The CMS has updated the Medicare website to allow a beneficiary to list his or her primary-care doctor. If that doctor is in an ACO, the beneficiary would be assigned to both that provider and their ACO starting next year. There currently are 480 shared-savings Medicare ACOs serving over 9 million beneficiaries. (Dickson, 8/23)
Modern Healthcare: Does MACRA Leave Small Physician Practices Behind?
The CMS' attempts to reduce regulatory burden on small practices by exempting them from new Medicare requirements may actually leave them behind in the transition from fee-for-service to value-based care, providers say. Earlier this summer, the CMS proposed that physician practices with less than $90,000 in Medicare revenue or fewer than 200 unique Medicare patients per year would be exempt from reporting under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act starting in 2018. (Dickson, 8/23)
