VIDEO: Value-based payment models offer opportunities for nephrologists
In this video, Andy Howard, MD, talks about the potential opportunities for nephrologists in the newly developed value-based payment model demonstrations offered by the CMS Innovation Center.
“This is CMS’s attempt to move to the next iteration of value-based payment for nephrologists,” Howard, a former president of the Forum of End-Stage Kidney Disease Networks and a consultant to the kidney care field, told Healio. “The unique feature of these models is they incorporate not only end-stage renal disease but also incorporate care for late-stage chronic kidney disease in stage 4 and stage 5,” Howard said.
A key financial incentive in the Kidney Care First model is for nephrologists to arrange for the patient with kidney disease to get a transplant but to also make sure the new kidney remains healthy. Howard said the bonus was “significant,” with payments up to $15,000 during the course of 3 years if the transplant thrives.