On Sept. 15 and 16, the Physician-Focused Payment Model Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) met virtually for its quarterly public meeting. American College of Radiology® staff attended both sessions to hear the committee deliberate and vote on two proposed payment models, and to listen to the telehealth theme-based discussion facilitated by the PTAC.
On Sept.15, PTAC members deliberated and voted on two proposed payment models. The first was submitted by the American College of Physicians and the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Their model, “The Medical Neighborhood,” aims to increase specialty participation in advanced alternative payment models and to coordinate better care between specialty and primary care practices. The proposed model builds off of CMS’ Comprehensive Primary Care Plus and Primary Care First models slated to begin in 2021. The model proposes cardiology, infectious disease and neurology as three potential specialties for the pilot. The PTAC voted unanimously to recommend this model to the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS). The committee voted to recommend to the Secretary “to test the proposal to inform payment model development.”
The second proposed model, the Patient-Centered Oncology Payment Model, was submitted by the American Society of Clinical Oncology. This proposal includes a five-year model that would create community-based oncology medical homes comprised of multiple payers, employers, hematology/oncology practices and other stakeholders in a geographic region. Each community would be led by an oncology steering committee that would select clinical pathways and a subset of quality measures. The PTAC voted to refer the model for other attention by HHS.
On Sept. 16, the PTAC held its first theme-based session on telehealth. The session included a panel of past PTAC proposal submitters who included a telehealth component in their models, as well as a panel of subject matter experts. Panelists from both groups determined that telehealth is here to stay, it should be further incorporated into existing and proposed models, and that telehealth is not a solution but rather a tool to utilize to improve care and lower costs.
The next PTAC Public Meeting is scheduled for Dec. 7–8. Learn more online.