Primary Care Services

Small Practices Benefit Less from Medicare’s Care Management Codes

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS added two care management codes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule to better support primary care practices, but a study from Harvard University suggests that the codes may not be working as...

20% of Primary Care Practices Anticipate Closing in a Month

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Primary care practices are facing significant financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving 20 percent of practices without the resources they need to remain open beyond the next...

Primary Care Practices Overwhelmed by COVID-19, PPE Shortages

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Providers across the care continuum have been reporting significant personal protective equipment (PEE) shortages, but a new survey shows that primary care practices are being hit hard by supply chain...

High-Cost Utilization Persists Despite PCMH Implementation

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A study of the Veterans Health Administration’s patient-centered medical home (PCMH) implementation found no association between progress with the alternative care delivery model and high-cost...

Out-of-Network Primary Care Linked to Higher ACO Costs

by Emily Sokol, MPH

Patients receiving primary care outside of their defined accountable care organization (ACO) network drive up costs for ACOs, a recent study from Portland State University said. The Medicare Shared...

Advanced Primary Care Promotes Value-Based Care

by Emily Sokol, MPH

Primary care is at the heart of the care delivery system. Over three-quarters of the general population only require primary care services in a given year. Yet primary care rates have been declining...

Physician Workforce Demand Rises 5% As Orgs Seek Primary Care Docs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Despite a growing healthcare provider shortage, physician workforce demand has grown year-over-year over the past three years, according to a recent study conducted by Doximity. The company’s...

CMS Opens Apps for Kidney Care Model, Delays Primary Care First

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Late last week, CMS started to accept applications for two new alternative payment models focusing on kidney and primary care, with the latter now facing a delayed implementation. Both the Kidney Care...

Value-Based Care Necessitates Shift in Primary Care Staffing Model

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The medical assistant-only model for primary care staffing may be the most cost-effective for practices relying on fee-for-service revenue, but the model will not be able to support value-based care...

Balancing Specialty and Primary Care Lowers Costs for ACOs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) that provided between 40 and 45 percent of office visits through specialists had significantly lower costs compared to ACOs with the lowest and highest specialty...

Demand for Medical Specialists Increases, Surpassing Primary Care

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Hospitals, medical groups, and other healthcare organizations increased their demand for medical specialists from 2018 to 2019 despite the industry-wide push for more primary care, according to Merritt...

C-Suite Focusing on Healthcare Revenue Growth Over Cost Control

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare revenue growth pushed past cost containment as the greatest priority for C-suite executives in 2019, according to the results of a new survey. In the Advisory Board’s Annual Health...

AHA Seeks More on Primary Cares Initiative’s Direct Contracting

by Jacqueline LaPointe

CMS’ request for information on a new direct contracting model presents a unique opportunity for financial risk in healthcare, but the “lack of detail makes it difficult for providers to...

IN Practice Gains Independence with Direct Primary Care Model

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Risheet Patel, MD, was growing frustrated with how his practice had to deliver care and operate under a local hospital network entrenched in fee-for-service until he implemented direct primary...

CPC+ Did Not Cut Medicare Spending, Improve Quality in First Year

by Jacqueline LaPointe

The Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) did not affect total Medicare spending, and the value-based reimbursement program for primary care practices had little impact on service use and care...

Exploring Value-Based Payment Models Under Primary Care First

by Jacqueline LaPointe

On April 22, 2019, HHS unveiled the Primary Cares Initiative, a program that aims to reduce administrative burdens and enable primary care providers to focus more time on patients while decreasing...

Providers, Execs Applaud Medicare’s Primary Cares Initiative

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Provider groups and healthcare executives are on board with Medicare’s new Primary Cares Initiative, which will shift primary care from fee-for-service to at-risk value-based reimbursement models...

HHS Launching Direct Contracting Payment Models for Primary Care

by Jacqueline LaPointe

HHS recently announced that CMS will launch the Primary Cares Initiative in 2020, which will give about one in four primary care providers the opportunity to receive value-based reimbursement and...

Primary Care Accounts for Less Than 5% of Medicare Spending

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Healthcare industry leaders are emphasizing the benefits of primary care, but a surprisingly low percentage of Medicare spending goes to providing primary care services, a new RAND Corporation study...

Investing in Primary Care Delivers Value-Based Care Results

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Supporting primary care will bring value-based care results, asserts Humana’s Chief Medical Officer Roy Beveridge, MD. Value-based arrangements between providers and payers have the lofty, yet...