Both the state and federal government are adopting bundled payments for total hip and knee replacements as an attempt to move to value-based purchasing. On March 17, the state Health Care Authority (HCA) announced that Virginia Mason Hospital & Medical Center will serve as its center of excellence for state employees and others covered under the Public Employees Benefits Board plan. Beginning in January 2017, the HCA will provide incentives for their employees to select Virginia Mason for this procedure.
Starting April 1, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will also adopt bundled payments for Medicare patients with hip and knee replacements. The bundled payment approach applies to surgeries performed in Snohomish, King, Pierce and Clark County and 65 other metropolitan service areas across the country.
As a resource for hospitals, WSHA, through its relationship with DataGen, is offering hospitals a Medicare analysis package that allows hospitals to identify episodes completed and in-process for financial reporting, and much more. Click here to read more in a recent Fiscal Watch. (Claudia Sanders)
