The CMS has announced that it has selected over 450 healthcare organizations to participate in its Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative. The Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative is a payment model program, the purpose of which is to test whether or not bundling payments for services in a single episode of care can both improve quality of care and lower costs.
CMS has designated 32 awardees for Model 1, which begins in April 2013. The remaining provider organizations will be participants for the first phase of Models 2, 3 and 4.
Model 1 requires the awardees to offer a standard discount to Medicare from the standard Part A hospital inpatient payments. Any savings and financial gains that arise from new care strategies will be shared between hospitals and providers.
Read about Models 2, 3 and 4 in the original article found on ModernHealthcare.com.