Continued growth of accountable care organizations could impact private practice physical therapists.
By Jerome Connolly, PT, CAE
April 4, 2014
A December 2013 announcement1 by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) provides evidence of the growth of the so-called Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). The 123 new ACOs bring the number of Medicare ACOs to 366. In addition, the best estimate for the total number of public and private ACOs is 606.
A list of the 123 new Medicare ACOs announced in January can be found at: http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/sharedsavingsprogram/Downloads/2014-ACO-Contacts-Directory.pdf.
By Jerome Connolly, PT, CAE
March 3, 2014
Congress must have been affected by the holiday spirit in December when two key committees passed separate bills that would lead to repeal of the long dysfunctional sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula used to calculate therapist and physician payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
Congress has been providing waivers and short-term patches to the policy almost annually since 2003. And three committees of jurisdiction expressed sincere interest in early 2013 in enacting legislation that would finally repeal the arcane formula. The congressional committees got off to an early start last year in circulating concept papers, holding hearings, and seeking extensive input from stakeholders. PPS participated vigorously in that process.
