The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced more new opportunities for clinicians to join Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs) to improve care and earn additional incentive payments under the Quality Payment Program, which implements the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) as a payment alternative to the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR). Beginning in January and February 2017, CMS will open applications for new rounds of two CMS Innovation Center models for the 2018 performance year – for new practices and payers in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model and new participants in the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) model. With these new opportunities, CMS expects that by the 2018 performance period, 25 percent of clinicians in the Quality Payment Program would be a part of these advanced models and may be eligible to earn incentive payments.
This will give Orthopaedic surgeons who perform Total Joint Replacement an opportunity to participate in Advanced Alternative Payment Models as an alternative to the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) which is not a favorable methodology for Medicare payment to Orthopaedic surgeons under MACRA. The AAHKS Leadership and your Advocacy Committee plans to submit applications for AAPMs which will allow AAHKS members to participate in these risk-sharing bundled payment paradigms with or without third party conveners or hospital involvement. Our intent is to allow our membership to lead the bundled episodes and take on as much risk as they feel is appropriate.
