August 27, 2012 -- Tuality Health Alliance (THA) has been chosen as one of six organizations from Oregon to participate in a groundbreaking initiative sponsored by the federal government to strengthen the role of primary care in health care.
The initiative, called the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI), is intended to provide more effective, more affordable, higher quality health care. Five hundred primary care practices in seven states will take part in the initiative. It is a partnership between the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), state Medicaid agencies, commercial health plans, self-insured businesses and primary care providers.
THA is the plan administrator for the Tuality Healthcare Medical Plan. The other Oregon providers are: CareOregon, Regence BlueCross BlueShield, Oregon Health Authority, Providence Health Plans and the Teamsters Multi-Employer Taft Hartley Funds. The other regions involved are Arkansas, Colorado, New Jersey, New York, Ohio-Kentucky and Oklahoma.
Under the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, CMS will pay primary care practices a care management fee, initially around $20 per beneficiary per month. This fee will support enhanced, coordinated services on behalf of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. Participating commercial, state, and other federal insurance plans are also offering enhanced payment to primary care practices that are designed to support them in providing high-quality primary care on behalf of their members.
“The Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative is the kind of common sense investment in health care we need,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. “Businesses, families, and taxpayers all benefit from a stronger primary care system that helps to improve our health and lower costs.”
The initiative is a four-year program administered by the CMS Innovation Center, which was created by the Affordable Care Act to test innovative payment and service delivery models that have the potential to reduce program expenditures while preserving or enhancing the quality of care.
To see the list of selected practices and addresses in all seven markets, as well as see it visually on a map, go to: http://innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/Comprehensive-Primary-Care-Initiative/index.html
August 27, 2012
