Medicare Launches Primary Care Incentive Program Linked to Health Reform Law

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that it has selected the 500 medical practices that will participate in a four-year project that will reward organizations that achieve certain measures of well-coordinated primary care. Participating practices will receive about $20 per beneficiary per month in exchange for providing new services, such as offering more flexible office hours, using electronic health records (EHRs), or coordinating with a patient's other providers. Insurance plans outside of Medicare will also participate, CMS said, by paying primary-care practices that agree to enhance policyholders' care. Beginning this fall, the initiative is expected to benefit more than 300,000 Medicare patients.