The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has disclosed another delay — but no definitive timeline — of its Primary Care First-Seriously Ill Population physician payment model, which the hospice and palliative care community has been closely following. While the model previously was scheduled to begin on Jan. 1, 2021, CMS announced last June that it was moving the date back to April 1, 2021.
While the latest notice from CMS indicates further delay, it doesn’t provide a new start date for the model. CMS’s Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovations is addressing operational challenges associated with the model.
“It has been known for some time that there are operational challenges associated with the PCF-SIP model, including concerns about how best to enlist Medicare beneficiaries, who must be deemed to be seriously ill and receive fragmented care based on review of claims data,” the National Association for Home Care & Hospice said. “The goal of the model is to provide coordinated care that leads to stabilization of a patient’s condition(s) and over time to move them to a more traditional group practice model for continuing treatment.”
This article originally appeared on McKnight's Senior Living
