CMMI

Trump/Musk killed AHRQ, but in a sense, the death has been playing out over 25 years. Recalling 4 eras of the agency and my dream for its eventual rebirth.

Clinical Practice Guidelines and Protocols, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), Cost-Effectiveness Analysis (CEA), Outcomes Measurement /

Slashing and Dissolving As reported by the Kaiser Family Foundation’s Health News site blog, last week the Trump administration “dissolved” the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), the agency that has for decades been at the center of the US Federal Government’s support for health services research in the service of improvement of our

Trump/Musk killed AHRQ, but in a sense, the death has been playing out over 25 years. Recalling 4 eras of the agency and my dream for its eventual rebirth. Read More »

CMS Innovation Center engages in linguistic manipulation and health economics denialism in new definition of “VBC”

4 Comments / ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing, Clinical Process Improvement /

There are many good people at the CMS Innovation Center (CMMI). They mean well. They are our friends. But friends need to call out friends when they are out of line. I received an email this morning from CMS announcing the launch of their new “Value-Based Care Spotlight” website. Right near the top of the

CMS Innovation Center engages in linguistic manipulation and health economics denialism in new definition of “VBC” Read More »

Oncology Care Model failure calls for rethinking our approach to real, sustainable improvement in specialty care

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing /

This month, disappointing evaluation results call for re-thinking of our approach to improving specialty care.  Nancy Keating and 12 of her colleagues from multiple medical schools and consultancies working with the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) published the results of their formal evaluation of the Oncology Care Model (OCM), a three-year large-scale

Oncology Care Model failure calls for rethinking our approach to real, sustainable improvement in specialty care Read More »

Berwick and Gilfillan offer six recommendations for reinventing CMMI. My response is yes, but they don’t address the #1 issue: failure to achieve critical mass.

3 Comments / Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), ACO Culture, ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing, Affordable Care Act, Behavior Change, Clinical Process Improvement, Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI), Dr. Ward's Health Care Heroes, Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) /

In a recent health policy viewpoint article in JAMA, Drs. Don Berwick and Rick Gilfillan noted that, although the CMS Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has done some good during its ten+ years of existence, it has failed to “become the engine that it could be for transforming the nation’s health care finance

Berwick and Gilfillan offer six recommendations for reinventing CMMI. My response is yes, but they don’t address the #1 issue: failure to achieve critical mass. Read More »