News Report | December 2, 2018
75% Of Clinical Episodes Had Lower Costs In Medicare Bundled Payment Program
Approximately 75% of clinical episodes had lower costs in the Medicare Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative for Models 2, 3, and 4. CMS released the outcomes for the fifth year of the Medicare BPCI on October 9, 2018. Under the BPCI initiative, Medicare payments declined for most clinical episodes and over half of the relative payment reductions were statistically significant. The declines were primarily due to relative reductions in the use of post-acute care. Medicare payments declined for three-quarters of the clinical episode combinations evaluated, with little change in quality of care.
The BPCI initiative rewards . . .