Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

When the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) rolled out the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus program on April 11, it marked the launch of a new primary care payment model impacting 20,000 physicians and other practitioners of around 5,000 practices nationwide.

Primary care advocacy groups appeared to be pleased with the potential of the CPC+ program. “The American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) applauds the CMS announcement of the CPC+ initiative,” said AAFP President Wanda Filer, MD, MBA in the April 11 statement. “The AAFP has called for a transition away from episodic fee-for-service payments towards a blended payment model that supports direct patient care as well as the coordination and care management that is so important for high-performing primary care. By combining blended payment with bringing all public and private payers to the table, CPC+ is yet another important step toward transforming the way patients get care, the quality and efficiency of that care, and the overall improvement of health in the community.”

Likewise, the American College of Physicians (ACP) is optimistic about the potential that the new program will offer to internal medicine practitioners. “ACP believes that CPC+ offers the potential of greatly strengthening the ability of internists and other primary care clinicians, in thousands of practices nationwide, to deliver high value, high performing, effective, and accessible primary care to millions of their patients,” said ACP President Wayne J. Riley, MD, MPH, MBA, MACP in the statement.