Authored by Kristine A. Schaan, M.A., CPG, NHA, Consultant

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a statement that the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative will extend to September 30, 2018 for Models 2, 3, and 4 episode initiators. Awardees that began participation in October 2013 as well as those awardees that joined in 2014 have the opportunity to extend their participation by two years, into 2018, as opposed to the scheduled end date of September 30, 2016.

The voluntary program is part of CMS’s broader initiatives through the its Innovation Center which tests innovative payment and service delivery models with the goal of achieving the Triple Aim. CMS hopes that extending BPCI will provide more time to evaluate and determine the initiative’s effectiveness.  “By extending their participation, CMS will be able to provide a more robust and rigorous evaluation of the initiative and determine whether the efforts of bundling payments are successful in providing better care while spending healthcare dollars more wisely,” Dr. Patrick Conway, CMS Acting Principal Deputy Administrator. Early insights by industry experts believe that many existing awardees will pursue extending their participation in the BPCI Initiative as a number of the frustrated awardees have already terminated their participation.

Link to CMS Fact Sheet: https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Fact-sheets/2016-Fact-sheets-items/2016-04-18.html