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Ending Meaningful Use tops CMS’s ‘punch list’ in 2016
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As part of a new streamlined regulatory approach in 2016, “The Meaningful Use program, as it has existed, will now be effectively over and replaced with something better,” Andy Slavitt, CMS acting administrator, said at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco.
In the coming year, the new central focus of the organization will be to set policy and act as a regulator to make sure the laws of Congress and CMS rules advance the interests of consumers and taxpayers; provide service to beneficiaries, provide technical support to health care providers and partner with states and commercial health plans to deliver CMS programs; and operate as a market signaler, Slavitt said, according to a CMS transcript of the talk.
“Now that we effectively have technology into virtually every place care is provided, we are now in the process of ending Meaningful Use and moving to a new regime culminating with the MACRA implementation,” Slavitt said.
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015, with the new Merit-Based Incentive Payment System, will simplify programs and be designed from the “outside-in,” he said.
“The implementation of the bipartisan MACRA legislation is a major item squarely on our punch list that has everyone’s attention,” Slavitt said.
The implementation will include focusing toward the outcomes of technology use that providers achieve with their patients; customizing providers’ goals for technology companies to build around individual practice needs; requiring open application programming interfaces; and ensuring interoperability of technology between physicians and consumers.
“In many ways the day-to-day work of CMS at this point in time is to start up new consumer and provider-facing capabilities and then scale them, nurture and mature them,” he said. “It demands we change our culture and execute with clarity, with discipline and with collaboration — things we haven’t always been known for.”
In the next-generation accountable care organization (ACO) model, there will be more than 475 ACOs with 30,000 physicians, for a total of 8.9 million Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries expected to be a part of an ACO.
“Today’s news is strong evidence that ACOs will be part of ushering in the new wave of alternative payment models,” Slavitt said. “They have demonstrated improvements in quality, patient experience and have been certified to reduce costs.”
CMS also plans on attracting new innovative companies to invest in the Medicaid IT space and has launched a “one-stop shop” of resources to help private sector companies identify opportunities to participate in the IT market.
“With over 30 states currently redesigning their Medicaid IT systems, 2016 will be the most active year to date for Medicaid IT opportunities,” Slavitt said.
Lastly, CMS plans on continuing to mature the health insurance marketplaces.
“Our focus is simple: Marketplaces must be attractive to health plans to reach and build relationships with desirable consumers; the offerings need to be attractive to consumers so they come and shop; and we need a predictable set of underwriting and other rules that compensate fairly for risk and keep the risk pool stable and balanced,” he said.
In order to continue to maintain and improve marketplace rules, CMS will be implementing a number of changes over the next 45 days.
To promote the open enrollment period, CMS has eliminated certain special enrollment periods. It also terminated coverage for individuals who were improperly enrolled by certain brokers. Additionally, the organization is hosting a public conference to review the risk adjustment methodology on March 25.
“The actions we are focused on, while targeting health plans, are aimed at directly benefiting consumers as they enhance predictability and affordability. That is a critical goal as we move to the next stage of marketplace evolution,” Slavitt said. – by Kristie L. Kahl
Reference:
Comments of CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt at the J.P. Morgan Annual Health Care Conference, Jan. 11, 2016. http://blog.cms.gov/2016/01/12/comments-of-cms-acting-administrator-andy-slavitt-at-the-j-p-morgan-annual-health-care-conference-jan-11-2016/.