CMS has released the final report on the evaluation of the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) Model. Over 300 Michigan practices participated as well as practices in seven other states. The report found that during the five performance years of the model, CPC+ practices transformed care and contributed to reduced outpatient emergency department visits, acute inpatient hospitalizations, and acute inpatient expenditures. However, these reductions were insufficient in either track to reduce total Medicare expenditures or achieve net savings, after accounting for increased expenditures in other areas and enhanced CPC+ payments. One other finding was interesting — CPC+ practices that also participated in the Medicare Shared Savings Program at baseline successfully reduced acute inpatient expenditures and total expenditures.
Though the CPC+ demonstration did not meet CMS’ requirements for certifying the model so that it could continue as a part of ongoing Medicare payment, the model was an important experiment in primary care transformation.
CPC+ began prior to the release of the National Academy of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s Implementing High Quality Primary Care report that recommended increased payment for primary care. It urged a different approach to certifying demonstrations, explaining that “Primary care payment models to date have largely been judged based on their ability to generate cost savings. Payment models that support integrated, interprofessional primary care teams working in sustained relationships with patients and families will ensure that high-quality primary care is possible to implement and sustain.” It goes on to establish that “While primary care payment reform may not result in short-term cost savings, it is a long-term investment that can improve population health and create greater health equity.”
Michigan Multipayer Initiatives 