The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is offering a second round of funding to help states implement new healthcare delivery and payment models.
It's offering $30 million to 15 states already in the State Innovation Models program and another $700 million is available for 12 new participants, with awards ranging from $20 million to $100 million each, according to an announcement.
The Model Test program will provide financial and technical support over four years for new participants to test and evaluate initiatives such as accountable care organizations, medical homes and bundled payments. The Model Design program will support states already in the program who need more time for their projects.
Applicants for the Model Test funding must develop a comprehensive health IT plan covering four areas:
- Governance: Develop a realistic plan to implement an interoperable health IT and data infrastructure and a process for resolving disputes over data ownership.
- Data quality infrastructure to support care and payment: Create integrated public health registries, surveillance and chronic disease systems, and implement common quality and cost measures.
- Expanding coordination across the care continuum: Target interventions to support interoperability among long-term care and behavioral health providers to support care transitions and reduce readmissions.
- Patient engagement and transparency: Release data for price transparency, access to multipayer claims information and Blue Button technology and make information available in coded, machine-readable formats to promote innovative uses of data.
A letter of intent to apply is due by June 6.
ACOs are seen as becoming the dominant model in the new payment landscape despite a number of challenges, according to a recent California Healthline article.
Integration of care beyond the hospital, which increasingly involves integration of IT systems, was one of the strategies for surviving in value-based models, according to a report based on discussion at Huron Healthcare's CEO Forum.
To learn more:
- find the announcement (.pdf)