Health Beat: Arkansas among states to participate in new CMS primary care model

Editor’s note: Each Wednesday, Talk Business & Politics provides “Health Beat,” a round-up health-related topics.  –––––––––––––––

ARKANSAS AMONG SEVERAL STATES TO PARTICIPATE IN NEW CMS NATIONWIDE PRIMARY CARE MODEL
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Tuesday (Aug. 2) opened the application period for practices to participate in the new nationwide primary care model, Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+). Arkansas is one of several states to participate in the public-private partnership across 14 regions.

CPC+ is a five-year primary care medical home model beginning January 2017 that will enable primary care practices to care for their patients the way they think will deliver the best outcomes and to pay them for achieving results and improving care.

CPC+ is an opportunity for practices of diverse sizes, structures, and ownership who are interested in qualifying for the incentive payment for Advanced Alternative Payment Models through the proposed Quality Payment Program. CMS estimates that up to 5,000 primary care practices serving an estimated 3.5 million beneficiaries could participate in the model.

U.S. NEWS & WORLD REPORT ANNOUNCES ‘BEST HOSPITALS’ RANKING
U.S. News & World Report released its 27th annual Best Hospitals rankings, comparing nearly 5,000 medical centers nationwide in 25 specialties, procedures and conditions. This year the highly-watched annual report ranks the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. No. 1 on the Honor Roll, which has been expanded to highlight 20 hospitals delivering exceptional treatment across multiple areas of care. The Cleveland Clinic is No. 2, followed by Massachusetts General Hospital at No. 3. U.S. News also recognized 504 Best Regional Hospitals in states and metro areas. Several Arkansas hospitals made the list. Click here to read about all of them.

FCC UNVEILS DATA-DRIVEN, WEB-BASED TOOL FOR DEVELOPING BROADBAND HEALTH POLICIES
The Federal Communications Commission’s Connect2Health Task Force on Tuesday (Aug. 2) launched the Mapping Broadband Health in America portal, a web-based mapping tool that will enable and inform more efficient, data-driven decision making at the intersection of broadband and health. By allowing users to ask and answer questions about broadband and health at the county and census block levels, the tool provides critical data that can help drive broadband health policies and connected health solutions for this critical space, officials said.

The mapping tool is an interactive experience, showing various aspects of connectivity and health for every state and county in the United States. Users can generate customized maps that display broadband access, adoption and speed data alongside various health measures (e.g., obesity, diabetes, disabilities and physician access) in urban and rural areas. These maps can be used by both public and private sectors and local communities to identify not only gaps, but also opportunities, FCC officials said.

To learn more, click here.