CMS awards agreements targeting avoidable SNF hospitalizations

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has selected six organizations to implement a new payment model in phase two of its Initiative to Reduce Avoidable Hospitalizations among Nursing Facility Residents. The model seeks to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among long-stay residents eligible for Medicare and/or Medicaid by providing new payments to practitioners for engaging in multidisciplinary care planning activities. The participating skilled nursing facilities also will receive payment to provide additional treatment for common medical conditions that often lead to avoidable hospitalizations. Beginning this fall, the organizations will implement the payment model with both their existing partner facilities, where they provide training and clinical interventions, and in a comparable number of additional facilities to be recruited over the next several months. The four-year phase will be implemented through cooperative agreements with Alabama Quality Assurance Foundation; HealthInsight of Nevada; Indiana University; The Curators of the University of Missouri; The Greater New York Hospital Foundation; and UPMC Community Provider Services. For more on the initiative, visit www.cms.gov.