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| Today’s Top Story
MedPAC recommends ending MIPS
MedPage Today reports that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) voted 14-2 in favor of ending the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and replacing it with an alternative reimbursement model. MIPS combines portions of the Physician Quality Reporting System, the Value-based Payment Modifier, and Meaningful Use into a single program based on quality, resource use, and clinical practice improvement. Last month, the agency finalized a recommendation for repeal, which was passed this week.
Read more…
View the MedPAC slide presentation (PDF)… |
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| Other News
More ACOs to participate in a downside risk contract this year
According to Modern Healthcare, about 18 percent of accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare shared savings program will participate in a downside risk contract during 2018—an increase from 9 percent in 2017. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reports that there are 561 Medicare ACOs in the program this year, 101 of which are in a downside risk-based contract. Of those ACOs, 55 have joined Track 1+, a new risk model that doesn’t require ACOs to take on as much financial risk as tracks 2 or 3, while eight ACOs are participating in Track 2, and 38 ACOs are in Track 3.
Read more… (registration may be required)
View the CMS data… |
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| Study: Introduction of bDMARDs associated with overall decrease in TKA
Data from a study conducted in Denmark and published online in the journal The BMJ suggest that introduction of biological disease-modifying anti-rheumatic drugs (bDMARDs) may have been linked to a decrease in incidence of total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The authors reviewed data on 30,404 patients with incident rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 297,916 matched control participants. They found that among patients with RA, the incidence rate of TKA increased from 1996 to 2001. After the introduction of bDMARDs in 2003, the rate of TKA steadily decreased. Among the general population, the incidence of TKA increased overall from 1996 to 2016. The authors note that the incidence of total hip arthroplasty had already started to decrease prior to bDMARD introduction.
Read more…
Read the abstract… |
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| Study: What factors are linked to postoperative complication in older patients?
A study published online in the journal BMC Medicine examines geriatric factors linked to complication after elective surgery. The researchers conducted a meta-analysis of 44 studies covering 12,281 patients and found that the pooled incidence of postoperative complications was 25.17 percent. They found that frailty, cognitive impairment, depressive symptoms, and smoking were associated with increased risk of postoperative complication. However, traditionally assessed prognostic factors such as age and American Society of Anesthesiologists status were not.
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Read the complete study… |
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| CMS will allow states to impose work requirement for Medicaid
CMS issued new guidance on allowing states to impose work or job training requirements for those who seek to obtain health insurance under Medicaid. The agency states that it received numerous requests to test programs through Medicaid demonstration projects under which work or participation in other community engagement activities—including skills training, education, job search, volunteering, or caregiving—would be a condition for Medicaid eligibility for able-bodied, working-age adults. CMS states that such programs would exclude individuals eligible for Medicaid due to a disability, elderly beneficiaries, children, and pregnant women. The Washington Post reports that Kentucky has become the first state to be approved to impose a Medicaid work requirement.
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Read the CMS statement…
Read more about the Kentucky approval… |
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| Medscape report compares physician lifestyles
Medscape has released the 2018 edition of its Physician Lifestyle & Happiness Report. The authors surveyed 15,543 physicians across 29 specialties. The report finds that 54 percent of orthopaedists consider themselves to be happy outside of work, and 44 percent say they have three or fewer close friends. Overall, 69 percent of employed physicians take three or more weeks off each year, compared to 63 percent of self-employed physicians. The report notes that 21 percent of respondents said they exercise once a week or less, and 11 percent don’t exercise at all.
Read more… |
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| Your AAOS
Public comments sought on upcoming MSTS postoperative SSI CPG
The Musculoskeletal Tumor Society (MSTS) Management of Postoperative Surgical Site Infection (SSI) Clinical Practice Guideline (CPG) has completed peer review. Public comments on the CPG will be accepted through Friday, Jan. 26, 2018. For more information and to provide comments on the CPG, contact Mary DeMars, at:
demars@aaos.org |
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