Accountable Care Organizations: Experiences, Examples and Lessons Learned

Transcription

1 Accountable Care Organizations: Experiences, Examples and Lessons Learned New York State Academy of Family Physicians Downstate Regional Family Medicine Conference Jeffrey R. Ruggiero Arnold & Porter LLP April 21, 2012

2 Physicians, particularly those who are in Primary Care, and specifically those in a solo or a small group practice, of two or three physicians, now find themselves in practice crisis. Healing is an art, medicine is a profession, health care is a business. Wise Observer 2

3 1990 s HOSPITAL-PHYSICIAN ALIGNMENT DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN? Response to rise of HMOs - prospect of capitated payments Predominantly PHO strategies - vehicle for joint managed care contracting and reducing utilization of services Hospital purchases of physician practices WHY STRATEGIES FAILED Failure to recognize differences between managing physicians and managing other hospital staff Hospital-dominated management - leaving physicians in the cold Specialty physicians lacked motivation to affiliate Hospitals guaranteed physician compensation while neglecting to tie payments to productivity Commercial health plans preferred to negotiate separately with hospitals and physicians Loose affiliations lacked sufficient integration - relationships disintegrated 3

4 HOSPITAL-PHYSICIAN ALIGNMENT DEJA VU ALL OVER AGAIN? (CONT D) WHAT S DIFFERENT NOW? Today s strategies driven by harsh economic realities Hospitals Intense competition - reduced referrals Shrinking market share Deep cuts in Federal and State funding Physicians Eroding income Increasing practice management expenses Inability to raise capital for upgrading facilities, equipment and IT Market Realities/Legislation Pushing Hospitals and Physicians to Join Forces 4

5 CHANGES IN PAYOR/PROVIDER RELATIONSHIPS Payor/Provider Collaborations Payors Buying Physicians Four of the five largest insurers increased physician holdings in the past year UnitedHealth Group buying medical groups and launching physician management companies CIGNA Medical Group launched Care Today clinics in 2006 in Arizona Humana purchased Concentra urgent-care system based in Texas in December 2010 Well Point purchased CareMore Health Group (health plan operator that owns 26 clinics) Payors Buying Hospitals Highmark Acquisition of West Penn Allegheny (5 hospitals) 1990 s Humana s hospital acquisition strategy (76 hospitals nationally) resulted in spinoff to Galen Health Care in 1993 Physicians refused to refer patients to Humana hospitals based on objections to certain managed care practices 5

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7 CMS Medicaid ACO Commercial Carrier Strategic Alliance, LLC ACO(?) Member Primary Care/ Multispecialty Practice Member Hospital/System Member Ancillary Provider Member Commercial Carrier 7

8 MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM - SECTION 3022 OF THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ( AFFORDABLE CARE ACT OR ACA ) No later than January 1, 2012, the HHS Secretary must establish a shared savings program specifically relating to Accountable Care Organizations ( ACOs ) What is an ACO? Organization of health care providers that agrees to be accountable for the quality, cost, and overall care of assigned Medicare beneficiaries who are enrolled in the traditional fee-for-services program Eligible Organizations Physicians in group practice arrangements Physicians in networks of practices Partnerships or joint venture arrangements between hospitals and physicians Acute care hospitals employing physicians Rural Health Clinics Federally Qualified Health Centers 8

9 MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM - SECTION 3022 OF THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ( AFFORDABLE CARE ACT OR ACA ) (CONT D) Shared Savings Based on 12-month period Upon satisfaction of quality standards, eligible to receive a percentage (50% onesided model / 60% two-sided model) of any savings Actual per capita expenditures of assigned beneficiaries must be a sufficient percentage below specified benchmark Benchmark for each ACO will be based on most recent 3 years of per-beneficiary Parts A and B expenditures for fee-for-service beneficiaries assigned to ACO Benchmark for each ACO will be adjusted for certain beneficiary characteristics and other factors, and updated by the projected absolute amount of growth in national per capita expenditures for Part A and B Quality Performance Standards 33 Measures - Includes clinical processes and outcomes, patient experience, and utilization benchmarks 9

10 MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM - SECTION 3022 OF THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT ( AFFORDABLE CARE ACT OR ACA ) ACO Participation Requirements Formal legal structure and common governance to receive and distribute shared savings Sufficient number of primary care Physicians for a minimum of 5,000 beneficiaries Written agreement with CMS for a minimum 3-year term Sufficient information regarding participating ACO professionals to support beneficiary assignment and the determination of shared savings payments Leadership and management structure that includes clinical and administrative systems Defined processes to: Promote evidence-based medicine Report necessary data to evaluate quality and cost measures Coordinate care Demonstrate satisfaction of patient-centeredness criteria 10

11 PROPOSED RULE VERSUS FINAL RULE FOR ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS (ACOS) IN THE MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM Topic Proposed Rule Modifications in Final Rule Transitionto risk in Track 1 Prospectivevs. Retrospective Proposed measures to assess quality ACOs could choose from two tracks, each entailing a 3-year agreement. Track 1 would comprise 2 years of one-sidedshared savings with a mandatory transition in year 3 to a performance-based risk under a twosided model of shared savings and losses. Track 2 would comprise 3 years all under the two-sided model. Retrospective assignment based on utilization of primary care services, with prospective identification of a benchmark population. 65 measuresin 5 domains, including patient experience of care, utilization claims-based measures, and measures assessing process and outcomes. Pay for full and accurate reporting first year, pay for performance in subsequent years. Alignment of proposed measures with existing quality programs and private-sector initiatives. Removetwo-sided risk from Track 1. Two tracks would still be offered for ACOs at different levels of readiness, with one providing higher sharing rates for ACOs willing to also share in losses. A preliminary prospective-assignment method with beneficiaries identifiedquarterly; final reconciliation after each performance year based on patients served by the ACO. 33 measures in 4 domains. (Note: Claims-based measures not finalized to be used for ACO-monitoring purposes) Longer phase-in measures over course of agreement: first year, pay for reporting; second year and third year, pay for reporting and performance. Finalize as proposed. 11

12 PROPOSED RULE VERSUS FINAL RULE FOR ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS (ACOS) IN THE MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM Topic Proposed Rule Modifications in Final Rule Sharing savings Startdate Electronic health record (EHR) use One-sided risk model: sharing beginning at savings of 2% with some exceptions for small, physicianonly, and rural ACOs. Two-sided Risk Model: sharing from first dollar. Agreementfor 3 years with uniform annual start date; performance years based on calendar years. Aligning ACO requirementswith EHR requirements, 50% of primary care physicians must be defined as meaningful users by start of second performance year. Share on first dollar forall ACOs in both models once minimum savings rate has been achieved. Program established by January1, 2012; first round of applications are due in early First ACO agreements start 4/1/2012 and 7/1/2012. ACOs will have agreements with a first performance year of 18 or 21 months. ACOs starting 4/1/2012 and 7/1/2012 have option for interim payment if they report CY 2012 quality measures. ACO must report quality measures for CY 2013 to qualify for first-performance year shared savings. No longer a condition of participation. Retained EHR as quality measure but weighted higher than any other measure for quality-scoring purposes. 12

13 PROPOSED RULE VERSUS FINAL RULE FOR ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS (ACOS) IN THE MEDICARE SHARED SAVINGS PROGRAM Topic Proposed Rule Modifications in Final Rule Assignment process One-step assignment process: beneficiaries assigned on the basis of a plurality of allowed charges for primary careservices rendered by primary care physicians (internal medicine, general practice, family practice, and geriatric medicine). Two-step assignment process: Step 1: for beneficiaries who have received at least one primary care service from a physician, use plurality of allowed charges for primary care services rendered by primary care physicians. Step 2: for beneficiaries who have not received any primary care services from a primary care physician, use plurality of allowed charges for primary care services rendered by any other ACO professional. 13

14 KEY CHANGES FROM PROPOSED RULE Financial: Remove requirement to go at risk for losses Remove 25% withhold of savings Share from first dollar once pass threshold Change in beneficiary assignment method Better info available re who is assigned Accountability on those that are served Quality measures reduced 65 to 33 See Table A, 76 Fed. Reg. at

15 MORE CHANGES IN FINAL RULE Health IT no longer critical, but still important Eligible entities now include FQHCs, RHCs Marketing material now file and use Certify compliance with marketing guidelines CMS to provide approved language. Anti-trust Still subject to scrutiny by FTC/DOJ Streamlined procedures 15

16 FRAUD AND ABUSE WAIVERS Waivers of federal fraud and abuse laws Anti-Kickback Statute Beneficiary Inducement CMP Gainsharing CMP Physician self-referral law Stark Law Five Waivers Patient Incentives Waiver Pre-Participation Waiver Participation Waiver Shared Savings Distribution Waiver Stark Law Waiver 16

17 KEY POINTS TO REMEMBER RE ACOS NOT like an HMO Patients not locked in. Payments (largely) on fee-for-service basis Emphasis for achieving savings to Medicare must be on affecting service use: Adopting clinical protocols, changing referral patterns and care paths Not on changing costs to providers Savings to providers less important than in managed care context But population based, partial capitation model introduced in late years Good quality scores critical 17

18 CMS S ACO VISION An ACO promotes seamless coordinated care Puts the beneficiary and family at the center Remembers patients over time and place Attends carefully to care transitions Manages resources carefully and respectfully Proactively manages the beneficiary s care Evaluates data to improve care and patient outcomes Innovates around better health, better care and lower growth in costs through improvement Invests in team-based care and workforce 18

19 CMS S ACO STRATEGY: CREATING MULTIPLE PATHWAYS WITH CONSTANT LEARNING AND IMPROVING MSSP: Track 1 & Track 2 Pioneers Advance Payment 19

20 COMMON FEATURES OF CMS S MODELS Accountable for all care for aligned population Beneficiaries not locked in Emphasis on quality improvement and quality measurement Ability to share in savings to Medicare Strong emphasis on health IT Limited waivers of anti-fraud laws (Stark, anti-kickback, CMP) Scrutiny under anti-trust laws 20

21 HHS/CMS ESTIMATES 75% of Medicare Beneficiaries are in Fee-for-Service 50 to 270 ACOs (4 years) (revised from 75 to 150 / 3 years) 1 to 5 million Medicare beneficiaries (revised from 1.5 to 4 million / 3 years) Estimated aggregate bonus payments of $1.31 billion (4 years) (revised from $800 million / 3 years)* No penalties for first agreement term (revised from $40 million / 3 years)* Infrastructure costs to establish new ACO-average $580,000 Average of $1.27 million in ongoing annual ACO operating costs $470 million estimated Federal Government (Medicare) savings (4 years) * (revised from $510 million/ 3 years) 2012 $20 million (revised from $100 million) 2013 $90 million (revised from $210 million) 2014 $160 million (revised from $200 million) 2015 $190 million (revised from $200 million) * Median estimates. Outcomes could differ substantially from the median estimate Could result in lower Medicare Advantage Payments and lower Part B premiums (Not included in estimates) 21

22 HOW MANY ACOS MAY THERE BE? Providers driven by competitive concerns re referral patterns and market share Some enthusiasm restored by final rules CMS estimates of 50 to 270 MSSP participants reflect a wide range of possibilities Other models coming from CMS? Will departure of Administrator Berwick matter? Constitutional challenge Supreme Court ruling? Private sector models already forming 22

23 PROVIDERS COULD STILL BE CONCERNED WITH CMS MODELS Beneficiaries have free choice -- not locked in Beneficiaries can opt out of data sharing High costs, initial and ongoing Set up costs Staffing requirements, IT requirements Quality measurement High risk Payback uncertain Agreements limited to 3 years (a few months more for 2012 starts) 23

24 ACOS SELECTED FOR APRIL 1, 2012 START-UP 27 ACOs accepted in MSSP more than half are physician run networks or practices Span 18 states 375,000 beneficiaries Approximately 50 applicants many withdrew, opting for July 1, 2012 start date 65 currently participating with CMS programs 32 pioneer ACOs launched in January, participating in CMS physician group practice demonstration project More than 150 applications for July 1, 2012 start date applications were due by March 30, 2012 Next start date January 1, 2013 annually thereafter 24

25 PHYSICIAN ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS Physicians with shared strategic vision Professional/cultural compatibility Clinical standards Performance standards Utilization standards Governance/Management Form of organization/operational model Corporate structure Role of Board of Directors Role of Shareholders 25

26 PHYSICIAN ORGANIZATIONAL PROCESS (CONT D) Financial Compensation/Income Distribution Buy in/buy out Initial working capital 26

27 ACTION ITEMS Identify and establish strong physician leadership Organize physician Board of Directors Form Foundation of Legal/Organizational Structure Educate prospective shareholders/participating physicians Adopt initial Shareholders Agreement/Bylaws Establish Shareholder/participant criteria Stock Offering/Subscription Agreement Selection of Shareholders 27

28 ACTION ITEMS (CONT D) Organize Key Committees IT Finance Clinical Utilization Credentialing Define/Refine strategic plan Develop business plan 28

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