A new study that tracked Medicare claims for about 1.35 million beneficiaries who had joint replacement surgery found that hospitals participating in bundled payment programs spent less on the hip and knee joint procedures than hospitals receiving traditional fee-for-service payments, writes Healthcare Dive.
The study by a University in Pennsylvania and published in JAMA found that spending did not differ between hospitals that voluntarily joined bundling programs and those whose involvement was mandatory. The results failed to validate assumptions that voluntary participants tend to achieve greater savings because they choose programs for the opportunity to reduce spending.
The study looked at bundled payments under the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement program. Medicare in 2016 assigned 75 metropolitan statistical areas to receive mandatory hip and knee joint replacement bundled payments, while hospitals in 121 areas continued to receive fee-for-service payments.
Read more:
- Healthcare Dive: https://www.healthcaredive.com/news/hip-knee-bundled-pay-program-results-similar-as-voluntary-or-mandatory-ja/601877/
- Association Between Hospital Voluntary Participation, Mandatory Participation, or Nonparticipation in Bundled Payments and Medicare Episodic Spending for Hip and Knee Replacements. JAMA. June 16 2021