CMS has officially begun the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, which will test how bundling payments for care episodes can lead to better care coordination and reduced costs to Medicare. Beginning in April, the awardees in four different models will begin Phase 1 of the BPCI initiative, which will involve more than 100 participants partnering with more than 400 provider organizations, CMS announced on Jan. 31.
Participating providers range from hospitals to physicians to post-acute facilities and other provider types. Under the BPCI initiative, the participants agree to give CMS a discount for care episode payments, “and then the provider partners will work together to reduce readmissions, duplicative care, and complications to lower costs through improvement,” CMS states.
For more information on the BPCI initiative, go to http://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/bundled-payments/.