CMS recently launched the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced program, a new voluntary payment model that will go into effect on October 1, 2018.
Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced, the successor to the BPCI program of 2013, is the most significant proposal for payment reform from CMS since the beginning of the Trump presidency, and confirms the administration’s commitment to transitioning to paying for value rather than volume in healthcare.
BPCI Advanced represents a great opportunity for providers to participate in a value-based payment initiative where their efforts in redesigning care to improve patient outcomes and reduce costs are rewarded with financial incentives. However, participating in these new programs can seem daunting, particularly to small specialist groups whose resources are limited. The CMS application is extensive and requires a series of lengthy explanations on how participants plan to increase practitioner engagement, an overview of organizational readiness and the development of methodologies for sharing savings and regulatory compliance, among many other specifics. Remedy Partners, the largest Convener in the current BPCI initiative, can help. Over the last five years we have assisted more than 700 partners who participate in the program.
Working with a Convener like Remedy Partners reduces the barriers to entering the program. Completing the application alone would require a substantial lift for a small practice. CMS requires extensive details ranging from quality improvement techniques to beneficiary protection strategies to regulatory compliance assurances. Rather than having to painstakingly complete the requirements, Remedy Partners will handle the application process for its prospective partners, from beginning to end, eliminating that burden.
Most importantly, Remedy Partners covers all of the costs associated with getting a bundled payment program up and running. Rather than having to spend significant out-of-pocket working capital to pay for program evaluation and startup costs prior to the program launch, practices participating with Remedy Partners are able to begin implementation months before the actual launch date and will have minimal expenses prior to receiving savings payments, which could be as much as one year after the program begins. Since Remedy Partners effectively finances participation in the BPCI Advanced program and only receives payment when you get paid, it creates a true partnership model.
In addition to the capital outlays, Remedy Partners is a risk-sharing partner, providing a buffer to partners, particularly those who may have small program sizes. In small programs, outlier episodes can create significant volatility sometimes resulting in a poor performance quarter. However, with Remedy Partners sharing in the downside risk of a poor quarter, the natural volatility is significantly reduced.
Beyond cost, there are many operational benefits to Remedy Partners’ scale. For example, Remedy Partners’ access to large amounts of data allows us to create the most complete and accurate regional benchmarks and performance metrics. More data leads to better insights. Remedy Partners’ scale also enables us to maintain an analytics staff specialized in dealing with the complexities of the reconciliation process and the nuances of associated CMS claims data.
The same is true for clinical best practices. Because Remedy Partners works with so many providers across specialties and geographies, its tools for care redesign and improvement have been tested in many different situations. Further, hosting major events for partners to learn from each other offers a way to promote collaboration, not just with Remedy Partners, but also with each other. These opportunities will be especially valuable for BPCI Advanced given the heightened emphasis on quality improvement and care redesign.
Working with a Convener like Remedy Partners makes it easier for small practices to enter the program by removing the costs of exploring participation, the lengthy application process and ultimately program launch. Remedy Partners experience and scale lead to operational efficiencies, more sophisticated analytics and clinical tools validated against large data sets and episode volumes, facilitating a smooth transition to value-based care.
Ready to explore BPCI Advanced with Remedy Partners? Contact us at BPCIAdvanced@remedypartners.com to start a free evaluation of your opportunity in this exciting program.
Learn more during Remedy Partners’ webinar series: Success in BPCI Advanced.