In the first 21 months of CMS' Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, participating hospitals lowered Medicare payments for lower extremity joint replacement episodes while maintaining quality, according to a study published Monday in JAMA.
Compared to hospitals not participating in BPCI, Medicare episode payments for lower extremity joint replacements declined $1,166 more at BPCI-participating hospitals, according to the study. The researchers attribute this decline primarily to reduced use of institutional post-acute care.
They found no statistical differences in quality measures between BPCI participants and non-participants, which included 30- and 90-day unplanned readmissions, 30- and 90-day emergency department visits and 30- and 90-day post-discharge mortality.
CMS also released its second annual evaluation report for Models 2-4 of BPCI Monday.
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