The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI Advanced), a new voluntary episode payment model that will test a new iteration of bundled payments for 32 Clinical Episodes (29 inpatient and 3 outpatient), including major joint replacement of the lower extremity. CMS has indicated that BPCI Advanced will qualify as an Advanced Alternative Payment Model (APM) under the Quality Payment Program, but Hospitals operating under CJR are not permitted to apply for BPCI-A for the purposes of joint replacement procedures.
The BPCI Advanced performance period begins on October 1, 2018 and runs through December 31, 2023. The application portal for participation in the Model opened on January 11, 2018, and applications for participation must be submitted by March 12, 2018. CMS is hosting a Q&A Forum on January 30, 2018 from 12:00-1:00 p.m. EST which is open to the public. Read more.