By Matt Kuhrt
In their responses to the newly announced Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) Initiative, major industry groups are positive about the general direction, though some worry about implementation details.
Scheduled to roll out in January 2017 and incorporating lessons from the original CPC plan, CPC+ will introduce a pair of primary care practice tracks with both quality metrics and payment options tuned to the needs of different types of practices, according to a report by our sister publication FierceHealthPayer.
Statements from industry groups, such as the American Medical Association (AMA), the National Coalition on Health Care (NCHC) and the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC), conveyed strong enthusiasm for the overall direction of the changes.
Marci Nielsen, president and CEO of the PCPCC, praised the initiative for addressing major financial and accountability concerns that inhibit physicians seeking to transform their practices, as well as the flexibility to "meet primary care practices wherever they may be along the practice transformation continuum."
AMA President Steven J. Stack expressed optimism over the advances in the new model, and hope that the new initiative would offer opportunities to "ensure physicians have flexible and workable payment models that support high-quality patient care and put less administrative burden on physician practices."
The devil will be in the details of the implementation, said John Rother, president and CEO of NCHC, in a statement. However, "it's clear that Medicare and Medicaid are moving to align their primary care payment models with the rest of the health care sector. That's a big deal," he said.
To learn more:
- read the NCHC's announcement
- check out the response from the PCPCC
- see the AMA's statement