Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospices interested in participating in Medicare’s forthcoming Primary Care First Model’s Seriously Ill Population (SIP) option should step lively — the Request for Applications window already has begun.

After announcing the payment model earlier this year (see Eli’s HCW, Vol. XXVIII, No. 17), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued the RFA document and set the application window to run from Oct. 24 to Jan. 22, according to the model’s website. The model will begin in January 2021.

Remember: “Clinicians enrolled in Medicare who typically provide hospice or palliative care services (e.g., those affiliated with a hospice, palliative care or similar organization) are eligible to care exclusively for SIP patients, either by partici­pating in the model as a practice or by partnering with a Primary Care First participating practice that includes these practitioners on its practitioner roster,” CMS explains on its PCF website.

A link to the RFA, more details about the program, and more resources are at https://innovation.cms.gov/initiatives/primary-care-first-model-options.