IntegraNet, a Houston-based physician network with more than 1,200 primary care and specialty physicians, has applied for the CMS Pioneer ACO Model program, according to a Houston Business Journal report.
IntegraNet already operates on many aspects of the ACO model, according to the report. It contracts with independent physicians to oversee care of their Medicare patients and has developed quality measurements for physicians to follow to reduce hospital stays and better manage chronic conditions. The physicians' Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are based on those measurements.
Some have called IntegraNet's Medicare Advantage plan "an ACO without the label," according to the report.
"We believe in the ACO strategy because we've been doing it for the last seven years," IntegraNet CEO Lawrence Wedekind said in the report. "But if there's not give and take on these burdensome rules, then it won’t work and we'll back out. We're hoping we can influence CMS to do it properly."
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IntegraNet already operates on many aspects of the ACO model, according to the report. It contracts with independent physicians to oversee care of their Medicare patients and has developed quality measurements for physicians to follow to reduce hospital stays and better manage chronic conditions. The physicians' Medicare and Medicaid reimbursements are based on those measurements.
Some have called IntegraNet's Medicare Advantage plan "an ACO without the label," according to the report.
"We believe in the ACO strategy because we've been doing it for the last seven years," IntegraNet CEO Lawrence Wedekind said in the report. "But if there's not give and take on these burdensome rules, then it won’t work and we'll back out. We're hoping we can influence CMS to do it properly."
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