CMS P4P project shows diabetes care savings

While the evidence for cost-savings seems a bit, well, ambiguous, CMS this week is trumpeting the results of the first year of its diabetes care P4P project. CMS has just completed the first year of a three-year demonstration project under which the agency is monitoring diabetes care provided by 10 large medical practices. Diabetes management is being measured by standards drawn from CMS's Doctor's Office Quality project. Under the terms of the demonstration, which was mandated by Congress, CMS is providing financial incentives to practices that save more than 2 percent over projected costs.

Based on these standards, Marshfield Clinic and the University of Michigan Faculty Group Practice, Ann Arbor, earned about $7.3 million, 80 percent of the $9.5 million they're thought to have saved Medicare. Meanwhile, all 10 participating practices met at least seven of 10 clinical benchmarks. Still, it's worth wondering why eight of 10 practices don't seem to have generated significant savings. Let's see what happens when Medicare begins measuring care for congestive heart failure and other conditions over the next few years.

To learn more about the project:
- read this Modern Healthcare article (reg. req.)

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