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POSTED: January 18th, 2019
POSTED IN: HHS and CMS Updates, Resources,

Last Friday, January 4, HHS released a fact sheet describing new considerations that the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) will employ when evaluating alternative payment models (APMs) that are submitted to a federal advisory committee called the PTAC for consideration. ACEP is extremely pleased that the fact sheet included specific supportive references to ACEP’s APM, the Acute Unscheduled Care Model (AUCM).

In the fact sheet, CMMI states, “HHS is currently working to develop new potential model tests that build on ideas from the proposed models recommended by PTAC. These include proposed models from… the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) to encourage improved transitions of care.”

On September 6, 2018, the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) voted in favor of recommending ACEP’s APM to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) for full implementation. This was a big win for emergency physicians and emergency patients, as our APM is the first proposed payment model that gives emergency physicians a leading role when it comes to accountability for patient care and care coordination.

While we are still waiting for the HHS Secretary to formally respond to PTAC’s recommendation, we are encouraged by the reference to our APM in the CMMI fact sheet and we look forward to continuing to work with HHS to improve emergency patient care through the implementation of this model.

To read ACEP’s proposed APM, please click here.