Mass. Hospital Association: February Is Payment Reform Month

FEBRUARY: THE MONTH FOR REFORM

Top Patrick Administration officials met last Wednesday to discuss the governor's payment reform legislation, which he is expected to release this month. It is anticipated that his legislative proposal will create paths and incentives for the creation of Accountable Care Organizations, and put an emphasis on bundled or global payments as opposed to the prevalent fee-for-service system now in place.

In a Commonwealth Conversations blog posting in January, Health & Human Services Secretary Dr. JudyAnn Bigby hinted at the administration's current thinking, writing, "The Patrick-Murray Administration supports the formation of ... ACOs that will gradually accept more and more responsibility for the overall care of their patients. ... Bundled payments, paying a group of doctors within an integrated practice for services and costs related to the treatment of a particular condition, rather than paying each provider piecemeal, show promise in holding down costs while improving coordination."