HHS Secretary Azar Announces Launch of CMS Primary Care Initiative

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar announces a new value-based primary care initiative, CMS Primary Care, at the American Medical Association in Washington, D.C. Small primary care practices are given bonuses when patients stay healthy and out of the hospital, and if a patient gets sick they will have to pay up to a certain share of their practices' revenue for the extra spending. Direct contracting, for larger practices, gives the same rewards for healthy patients and bears the responsibility of the extra spending, "not just at their own practices, but throughout the system." He says that providers are given more discretion over their extra funds, meaning they can use the money to find new ways to keep patients healthy. close