Good and bad news for bundled payments

The move to bundled payments is one of the biggest changes under health reform. The number of healthcare providers participating in the new bundled payments model for Medicare payments has just tripled. At the same time, a new report reveals that a major pilot bundled payment program has failed.

According to an article in Modern Healthcare (subscription required), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that 4,122 providers will be added to the exploratory phase (Phase 1) of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative (BPCI), joining the 2,412 providers already participating.

In separate news, the RAND Corp., a research organization, has released a report in the journal Health Affairs that says the $2.9 million bundled payments program led by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) of California from 2010 through 2013 has failed.

For more details, including links to the above-mentioned reports, see the Healthcare Value Wire (free registration required).