Health equity remains one of the most pressing challenges in the healthcare industry today. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is taking a significant step forward with the Making Care Primary (MCP) model to address these disparities.  CMS' MCP model aims to improve care quality and ensure that everyone, regardless of their background, has access to essential health services. Using CMS' goals and perspective, we will explore how the MCP model promotes health equity, its crucial components and its implications for healthcare professionals.  Understanding the Making Care Primary Model  CMS is leveraging the MCP model to transform the delivery of primary care services, using insights from previous models like Primary Care First (PCF). It focuses on supporting healthcare providers in delivering advanced care that meets patients' diverse needs, aiming to create a more equitable healthcare system.  The MCP model is about improving patient outcomes and emp...

The healthcare landscape is evolving rapidly, presenting primary care practices with various challenges. In fact, CMS’ Making Care Primary (MCP) model is launching on July 1, 2024, requiring practices to thoroughly understand its patient population, financial drivers and care outcomes.  The Making Care Primary model , lasting 10+ years, aims to:  improve care management and care coordination; equip primary care clinicians with tools to form partnerships with health care specialists; and leverage community-based connections to address patients’ health needs and their health-related social needs (HRSNs), such as housing and nutrition.  CMS is working with State Medicaid Agencies in eight states to engage in full care transformation across payers, with plans to engage private payers in the coming months.  The CMS MCP Model will provide a pathway for primary care clinicians with varying levels of experience in value-based care to gradually adopt prospective, population-...

CMS will select participants for the Making Care Primary model soon. Once accepted, primary care practices will have to decide whether they’ll join the MCP model. This is no easy decision. In this blog, we’ll cover what primary care practices should consider before joining MCP, focusing on readiness and model design. Learn what you need to know before officially joining MCP and beginning the onboarding process, from April to July 1, 2024. MCP model track eligibility When organizations applied to MCP in November, they selected from three tracks depending on their value-based care experience. Track 1 was designed for practices with little to no VBC experience. This was done to encourage small and rural practices to participate. However, participants starting in Track 1 will eventually move to Tracks 2 and 3 over the performance model years. When CMS accepts practices, providers may be found ineligible for the track for which they applied. In these cases, they may be eligible for, and CM...

Are you a primary care practice that’s considering joining the Making Care Primary model? If so, you may have concerns about the experience needed to participate in a value-based care model. In this blog post, we’ll explore whether VBC experience is a requirement to apply for MCP and what benefits you can expect from the program, regardless of your experience level. Is value-based care experience required for MCP? Primary care providers don’t need VBC experience to apply for MCP. However, since MCP is a multi-state initiative , you do need to be located in one of the following states: Colorado; Massachusetts; Minnesota; New Jersey; New Mexico; New York; North Carolina; or Washington. Note, in New York only upstate counties are included under the model. See Appendix D in the Making Care Primary Request for Applications for more information.  Is there an advantage for practices with little to no VBC experience? One of the key benefits of the model is that primary care providers who...

The Making Care Primary model presents a unique new opportunity for practices to deliver advanced primary care over 10.5 years. As a primary care provider, you may be wondering whether you should take on the risk and how you’ll manage the program requirements, especially if you’ve never participated in a value-based care model before. In this blog, we’ll cover four noteworthy model benefits you may not have considered. These model design elements aim to reduce historic participation barriers and provide an on-ramp for primary care practices to transition to value-based care.   Benefit #1: New structure that encourages participation Unlike other alternative payment models, MCP aims to reduce financial exposure and some of the upfront infrastructure challenges for primary care practices with no or limited value-based care experience. CMS created these flexibilities to encourage more primary care clinicians to participate, especially small, independent, rural and safety net organizat...

On June 8, CMS announced the new Making Care Primary Model that will run for 10.5 years, from July 1, 2024, to Dec. 31, 2034. To ensure you’re ready for the application process, this blog will explain what you need to know about MCP. What is Making Care Primary? The MCP model aims to make advanced primary care more available and sustainable. This model builds upon previous innovative primary care models over the past 10 years, including the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative Plus and Primary Care First. State participation in MCP CMS announced that the MCP multi-state initiative will be tested under the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation in eight states: New York, Massachusetts, New Jersey, North Carolina, Minnesota, Colorado, New Mexico and Washington. Based on what we know so far, let’s dive into the top five things you’ll need to know about this program. 1. MCP lasts 10.5 years The model duration (10.5 years) for the CMS MCP model...