Monthly Archives: August 2016

August 5, 2016

CMS announces where they will start transforming physician payment plans

If like me you’ve been kinda following Federal physician payment reform (and hoping that what is learned there there will lead to payment reform in the private sector or maybe even workers’ compensation), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) made a big announcement this week.

Starting 4 months from now, (January 2017) they will be rolling out / testing a really quite revolutionary change in payments to PRIMARY physicians in 14 regions that include 11 whole states:  Arkansas, Colorado, Hawaii, Michigan, Montana, New Jersey, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island and Tennessee.    Other areas are the Greater Kansas City, MO area; the North Hudson Valley in New York state, the Greater Philadelphia area, and a region that includes all of Ohio plus northern Kentucky.

If you’re in any of those areas, it would behoove you to learn more about this –- and follow it as it unfolds.    CMS is estimating that 5,000 primary care practices serving an estimated 3.5 million beneficiaries could be touched by this model.   They are currently taking applications for providers in eligible practices in these areas, and don’t expect much trouble recruiting because the care-management fees can be a boon for practices.  Providers may be able to earn an additional $100,000 to $250,000 per year under the model, depending on the number of patients who participate.

The new model CPC+ (Comprehensive Primary Care Plus) has two tracks. Under track one, providers get a monthly fee for specific services in addition to the usual fee-for-service Medicare payments. But in track two, practices get an upfront monthly care-management fee coupled with reduced fee-for-service payments. The purpose of this hybrid model is to let practices provide care outside of the traditional face-to-face encounter.

Learn more here:  http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20160801/NEWS/160809989?utm_source=modernhealthcare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20160801-NEWS-160809989&utm_campaign=financedaily


August 3, 2016

A smile-filled rebuttal of ageism

I’m sitting here with a smile on my face after watching a 90 year old woman perform on America’s Got Talent — on You Tube.

If you’re worried that maybe you’re getting old and set in your ways, watching this video will be a great tonic.  If you don’t like being ageist but old people seem so, well, OLD and predictable  —  this will sure give you a different perspective on what’s possible.

And what the heck  –  just watch it because it’s a bit outrageous and totally fun:
http://www.upworthy.com/watch-this-90-year-old-woman-give-the-performance-of-a-lifetime-on-national-tv?c=reccon3

Yesterday I ordered a book entitled:  Aging or Ageless:  Rising Like a Phoenix from the Myth of Aging by Ron Zeller, a Landmark Forum leader who died recently at age 83.   It’s a book about transcending aging that doesn’t focus on how to stop aging but instead on how to be “ageless” in the face of any circumstance you face.  Ron Zeller got his first diagnosis of terminal cancer at age 60 (which he beat), and his second at nearly 80.  In the 20 years in between, he kept on transforming people’s lives by leading courses for Landmark while taking his health and vitality up to an entirely new level as an endurance athlete. At the age of 64, he ran and won his age division in the 100-mile Wasatch Endurance Race in Utah, one of the most demanding ultra-marathons in the world —  the first of many races he ran in places all over the world.  In 2004 Ron took up power lifting and by the age of 72 had had broken three US national records for his age. As recently as age 77 he completed the 135 mile Bad Water desert endurance race, running solo between the lowest and highest points in the continental United States.

I wonder if that 90 year old woman on America’s Got Talent has read Ron’s book!  Maybe she didn’t have to – because she sensed the secret to vitality on her own.   When I have a minute, I’ll try to find out what happened to her afterwards.   If you do, please let me know.  And if I like Ron’s book, I’ll share it with you.