CMS Framework for Health Equity and Compassionate Care for People with Serious Illness
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently outlined their strategic plan focusing on health equity, a move that could be a significant change for care for people with serious illness. CMS’s new focus on health equity aims to close gaps in access, quality, and outcomes for underserved populations. It also emphasizes the importance of culturally and linguistically appropriate services. These goals align with C-TAC’s core principles of care for people with serious illness, which is patient-centered and requires a nuanced understanding of cultural and social factors.
In line with C-TAC’s recommendations, CMS’s plan to involve community-based organizations and safety net providers is a step in the right direction, as it acknowledges the complex web of factors that contribute to health disparities. In addition, CMS’s new quality measures, which aim to eliminate avoidable differences in health outcomes, could be a boon for people with serious illness. By incorporating these measures, healthcare providers would be incentivized to offer high-quality care for people with serious illness, thereby elevating the standard of care across the board.
CMS contracted with Abt Associates in the fall of 2022 to convene a group of home health and hospice stakeholders to offer insights on quality measures related to health equity, addressing access to care issues, as well as organizational internal culture related to diversity, equity, and inclusion. The Technical Expert Panel (TEP) offered recommendations on three focus areas and potential measurement areas relating to health equity. The report can be found here. Home health and hospice providers should be proactive and begin preparing their agencies for these future quality measures.
These health equity quality measures are broken into (3) domains and include, but are not limited to the following:
- equity as a key organizational priority
- trainings for health equity
- health equity and organizational culture
The TEP recommended that an “equity access measure” is critically needed to ensure access for our most vulnerable who are not receiving our services. That is vitally needed and should be included in any future measures.
In September 2023 and March 2024, CMS announced two new care models – the States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development Model (AHEAD Model), and the ACO Primary Care Flex Model, respectively – that offer promising opportunities for better care delivery, outcomes, and health equity for people with serious illness. The goal of the AHEAD Model is to collaborate…
C-TAC, the Hospice and Palliative Care Association of New York State (HPCANYS), C-TAC Innovations, and TFA Analytics recently launched a project to improve access to high-quality care for people with serious illness while also improving health equity for the medically underserved, low income, and minority populations in New York State. The project includes developing a comprehensive set of payment and…
C-TAC acknowledges CMMI’s recent decision to end testing of the Hospice Benefit Component of the Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) Model. There were executional reasons for payers and providers to do so and we will continue to work with the agency, providers, payers, and policy makers on ways to improve care of those with serious illness and their families using our…