The Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative
<p>The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has begun reviewing applications for a new payment initiative that will test four different models of "bundled payment" for Medicare providers. In a new <a href="/blog/2012/bundled-payment-care-improvement-initiative-achieving-high-value-care-single-payment">blog post</a>, Mark Zezza, Stuart Guterman, and Jennie Smith look at this three-year project that will allow physicians, hospitals, and post–acute care providers to receive a single payment for an episode of care as a way of supporting the delivery of efficient and high-value care. </p><p>The goal of the bundled payment is to encourage hospitals and physicians to work together to coordinate care and improve care transitions, reduce rehospitalizations, and ensure delivery of appropriate care following discharge. The Medicare Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative, the authors say, has the potential to speed up bundled payment implementation by testing various models and giving providers a great deal of flexibility to design a model that works for them. </p>
<p>Visit the <a href="~/link.aspx?_id=0B67ACA7A5CB453CB876F3DB59E19448&_z=z">Commonwealth Fund Blog</a> for detailed analysis of the four primary models that will be evaluated in the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Initiative. </p>