The three-year Acute Care Episode demonstration project, which began at Baptist in June, bundles Medicare payments for hospitals and physicians into one shared payment and sets aside federal anti-kickback regulations so that both parties can collaborate, in what is called “gainsharing,” to reduce device prices and share the savings.
The ACE demonstration project, which covers nine orthopedic and 28 cardiac procedures, also involves reporting 22 quality measures each quarter to make sure quality is upheld.
Texas Medical Association still opposes the arrangement, which is the only ACE project in the state, and when Baptist officials first met with physicians about ACE, some physicians, concerned about losing their autonomy, angrily stormed out of the meeting.
Medicare pays participating patients up to $1,157 and physicians can increase their fees by up to 25 percent, though that level has yet to be reached, while Medicare receives discounts of 1-6 percent from participating hospitals.
Read the San Antonio Express-News‘ report on the Medicare ACE demonstration project.
