CMS reports shared savings results for primary care initiative

The Comprehensive Primary Care initiative generated $57.7 million in gross savings for Medicare Parts A and B in 2015, the second year of shared savings results, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced this week. “Further, more than half of participating CPC practices will receive a share of over $13 million in earned shared savings,” wrote Patrick Conway, M.D., CMS principal deputy administrator and chief medical officer. “In addition to the gross Medicare savings, CPC practices showed positive quality, with lower than expected hospital admission and readmission rates, and favorable performance on patient experience measures. CPC practices’ performance on electronic Clinical Quality Measures also exceeded national benchmarks, particularly on preventive health measures.” The four-year, multi-payer initiative, launched in 2012, pays participating primary care practices in seven U.S. regions to manage care for Medicare beneficiaries, with an opportunity to share in any net savings. CMS anticipates that the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus model, a five-year medical home model beginning in January, will qualify as an advanced alternative payment model under the final rule implementing key provisions of the new physician payment system required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015, Conway said.