The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will accept applications for its second cohort of participants in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced Model; second cohort participants will start model year three, beginning on Jan. 1, 2020.

The recently released 2017 Quality Payment Program Experience Report includes participation and performance statistics for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System and Advanced Alternative Payment Model tracks.

The tool includes 2018 Qualifying Alternative Payment Model (APM) Participant and Merit-based Incentive Payment System APM status.

More than 1 million eligible clinicians received a neutral or better payment adjustment in the first year of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System, one of two tracks in the Quality Payment Program.

The rule includes updates to the Quality Payment Program and documentation and payment changes for evaluation and management services.

In its comments, the association encouraged OIG to narrow the application of anti-kickback statute and beneficiary inducements civil monetary penalty laws to promote value and care coordination.

Participating entities, including 832 acute-care hospitals, will receive bundled payments for certain episodes of care to promote value in care delivery.

The Sept. 26 webinar will review requirements for submitting value-based payment approaches as an Other Payer Advanced Alternative Payment Model under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015.

In the rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services continues a policy of reduced payments to new off-campus provider-based departments; the agency also provides updates to the Quality Payment Program.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services extended to Aug. 8 the participation agreement deadline for the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced model and announced that participants can retroactively withdraw from the program in March 2019.

This finalized rule provides flexibility in determining episode spending for Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model participating hospitals affected by a major disaster, such as a hurricane or wildfire.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a frequently asked questions document about the new voluntary bundled payment model ahead of the March 12 deadline for applications.

The table identifies which alternative payment models (APMs) are designated as Advanced APMs under the Quality Payment Program or the Merit-based Incentive Payment System.

Under the new payment model, a single bundled payment will cover services furnished by various providers across care settings. Participants can earn additional payment if they reduce costs over the course of a beneficiary’s 90-day episode of care while meeting quality benchmarks.

In response to an annual update to the Quality Payment Program, the association called for increased flexibility and risk adjustment for socioeconomic factors.