Medicare looks to boost cooperation between primary care and specialists

The federal government wants to see more cooperation between primary care doctors and specialists as part of a new population-based payment model.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation released an update on its strategic vision for implementing value-based care and progress made since it was initially announced last year.

The goal is to boost integration of care across doctors by offering incentives that encourage physicians to focus on prevention and work more closely together.

CMMI is researching what tools and data are required to allow doctors to work better together across specialties. The center is also aiming to launch an advanced primary care model meant to ensure equitable access through the recruitment of safety net and Medicaid providers.

The ACO REACH model uses health equity benchmark adjustments to boost payments to providers that serve dual-eligible Medicare-Medicaid beneficiaries. CMMI has also added new investments to the ACO benchmark to lower the start-up costs for providers joining an ACO, and lengthened timeframes for testing the model.