When I read the original MACRA rule that CMS published last April, I was appalled at its complexity, at CMS’s total disinterest in measuring “performance” accurately, and CMS’s willingness to hype the performance of ACOs and “medical homes” (the main prototypes for the “alternative payment models” [APMs] authorized by MACRA). I entertained the faint hope that CMS would come to its senses after hearing the reaction to its original rule and propose something less complex, or maybe even urge Congress to suspend enforcement of the law until it could be rewritten. Foolish me.
I have read a substantial portion of CMS’s final rule, published last Friday. It is clear to me CMS intends to implement its original rule with only minor changes. I predict the implementation process will be a nightmare.
The most fundamental problem with the rule is its insane complexity. The complexity is a function of both the complexity of medicine and the impossibility of what Congress has asked CMS to do – to measure the cost and quality of physician services at both the individual and group level and to punish and reward doctors based on inaccurate scores, and to oversee the creation of vaguely defined and unproven entities like ACOs and “medical homes” which will also dish out penalties and rewards based on inaccurate data.
– The Healthcare Blog