The Temple Center for Population Health (TCPH) is participating in a new value-based care model offered by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) designed to enhance quality outcomes and reduce healthcare costs for Medicare fee-for-service patients.
The Global and Professional Direct Contracting program is a risk-sharing model that aims to improve patients’ experience and access to care.
The goal of Direct Contracting Entities (DCEs) is to help keep patients healthy by offering primary and specialty care, allied health care services, and varied social and community support services beyond what is available under traditional approaches to healthcare delivery, while assuming financial risk and reward based on their quality and cost outcomes.
Temple Physicians, Inc., Temple Health’s network of community-based physicians, is taking part in this new initiative by joining the Temple Center for Population Health, which coordinates the care and serves as DCE for the program.
“We are very pleased to be participating in CMS’s new Global and Professional Direct Contracting program, under which we offer patients a choice of primary care and specialty physicians along with a team of nurses, community health and social workers to deliver better-coordinated care addressing important social determinants of health,” said Steven R. Carson, MHA, BSN, RN, Senior Vice President of Population Health, and President and CEO of Temple Center for Population Health, LLC.
“This is a true population health approach to healthcare,” noted Carson. “Our physicians guide the medical care, which is supplemented by diverse teams of professionals who provide care management, home visits, and other preventive health services to remove barriers to access, address patients’ health needs, and sustain their well-being with community-based support resources,” he added.
“The Temple Center for Population Health calculates patients’ health risk scores and tracks feedback reports from physician practices to monitor quality and outcomes,” said Nick Barcellona, MBA, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Temple University Health System and a member of the administrative leadership team for Temple’s GPDC initiative. “Our global monthly reimbursement is directly tied to our ability to meet and exceed evidence-based core quality measures, so this program effectively aligns incentives to provide value-based care,” he added.
Enrollment in the program is optional and Temple has enrolled 7200 beneficiaries.
Editor’s Note: The statements contained in this document are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views or policies of CMS. The authors assume responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of the information contained in this document.