CMS will no longer test the Shared Decision Making model, because it didn't generate enough interest among ACO participants.
The agency was originally looking for 50 ACOs to participate in the intervention group and 50 ACOs to participate in a control group, recruiting from Next Generation and Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs. "After careful consideration, [CMS] is announcing its decision to not test the Shared Decision Making Model because an insufficient number of [ACOs] were interested in participating in the model," the agency wrote on its website.
The SDM model aimed to test approaches to shared decision-making between patients and physicians to evaluate what was most effective and had the greatest impact on cost, quality and patient satisfaction. ACOs that elected to participate would have received $50 for each shared decision-making service provided. The model would have been considered an Alternative Payment Model under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. However, because it would not have affected the amount of risk a practice took on, the ACO's eligibility as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model would have been determined based on its participation in the Next Generation or MSSP programs.
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