Welcome to The ACP Advocate,
In the first article today, we explain how CMS is preparing to launch a new initiative to continue strengthening primary care through the medical home model.
Called CPC+, the new program will allow up to 5000 advanced Primary Care Medical Homes in 20 geographic regions (locations still to be determined) to receive risk adjusted prospective payments from Medicare, as well as support from non-Medicare payers, for providing coordinated, patient-centered care to patients, in addition to receiving fee-for-service payments for their services. It likely will be Medicare's biggest investment ever in improving payments to primary care and promoting expansion of PCMHs, a model of care long championed by ACP.
Our second article tells how a congressional subcommittee asked ACP for its take on implementation of the new Medicare payment and delivery system reforms. What it got in return was a recipe for ensuring successful implementation of the changes, along with a pinch of praise. You’ll be interested in what Dr. Robert McLean told the House Energy & Commerce Subcommittee on Health.
In our final article, read about ACP’s call for changes in graduate medical education (GME) to meet today's needs. The funding system for GME needs significant updating and reform to stave off burgeoning doctor shortages in primary care and other specialties, according to a new policy paper published jointly with the Alliance for Academic Internal Medicine (AAIM) in Annals of Internal Medicine. The current system has created a "bottleneck in the physician supply chain," the paper notes.
Finally, I was happy to see everyone who stopped by to talk to me at the ACP booth and sessions last week at ACP’s Internal Medicine Meeting 2016 here in Washington. The week began with ACP’s annual Leadership Day. During the two-day event, ACP member internists and medical students learned about the legislative process and key policy issues from ACP staff, congressional staff, and independent policy analysts. Then, on Wednesday, they visited the offices of their members of Congress and presented ACP's legislative priorities.
Look for coverage and pictures of the advocacy event in our next issue on May 27th. For more coverage of what's happening in Washington, take a look at my award-winning blog, The ACP Advocate Blog by Bob Doherty. You can also follow me on Twitter @BobDohertyACP.
As always, please send your feedback and suggestions on this newsletter to: TheACPAdvocate@acponline.org.
Yours truly,
Bob Doherty
Senior Vice President
Governmental Affairs and Public Policy
American College of Physicians |
|
| In the news |
| » |
New Primary Care Initiative Slated to Begin in 2017
Successor to existing program aims to improve care delivery and payment management
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is preparing to launch a new initiative to continue strengthening primary care through the medical homes model.
Called Comprehensive Primary Care Plus, or... (read more)
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| About this newsletter |
| The ACP Advocate is an e-newsletter, edited by the College's Washington, DC governmental affairs division, created to provide you, our members, with succinct news about public policy issues affecting internal medicine and patient care. To learn more about ACP's Advocacy and to access the ACP Advocate archives, go to www.acponline.org/advocacy. |
|
| In focus |
| » |
Toolkit to Help Doctors Combat Climate Change |
|
Physicians can play a substantial role in addressing climate change by advocating for climate change adaptation and mitigation policies and educating themselves about climate change and how it affects public and individual health, and the potential health threats it may pose to their community. View the toolkit developed to help physicians reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions in their practices. |
| » |
Get Ahead of the Curve on MACRA! |
|
As MACRA implementation approaches, ACP is trying to help members to think about steps they can take now to best prepare for its arrival. Click the link above to see ACP's list of the 'Top 10 Things You Need to Do for MACRA.' |
| » |
Toolkit for the Pediatric to Adult Care Transitions Initiative |
|
This ACP Initiative is a collaborative effort to develop a toolkit to facilitate more effective transition and transfer of young adults from pediatric to adult care, with a major focus on providing a framework for the adult care clinicians. The new toolkit contains disease/condition-specific tools developed by internal medicine subspecialties to assist physicians in transitioning young adults with chronic diseases/conditions into adult care settings. |
|
|