Special Open Door Forum: Review of the Advance Payment Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) Model Thursday, January 5, 2012 2:30pm - 4pm ET Conference Call Only Earlier this fall, CMS announced a new Advance Payment Model (http://www.innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/aco/advance-payment/index.html) for physician-based and rural Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Shared Savings Program. ACOs selected to participate in the Advanced Payment Model will receive upfront payments that will be recouped from the shared savings they earn. CMS will host a Special Open Door Forum to review the Advance Payment ACO Model and the application template. On or before the morning of this Special Open Door Forum, a slideshow presentation will be posted to the Advance Payment Model ACO Application Information webpage at http://www.innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/aco/advance-payment/application-info.html. A template of the application for the Advance Payment ACO Model is also now available on a new Advance Payment Model Application Information webpage (http://www.innovations.cms.gov/initiatives/aco/advance-payment/application-info.html). The updated information on the webpage explains the application process, including how to obtain log-in credentials for the web tool. The template released is not an application form that should be filled out. The Innovation Center will accept applications through a web tool. Deadlines for the Advance Payment Model application are as follows:
April 1, 2012 start date: * Applications accepted between January 3 and February 1, 2012; July 1, 2012 start date: * Applications accepted between March 1 and March 30, 2012 (consistent with Shared Savings Program). We look forward to your participation. Special Open Door Participation Instructions: Dial: 1-800-837-1935 & Conference ID: 39623933 Note: TTY Communications Relay Services are available for the Hearing Impaired. For TTY services dial 7-1-1 or 1-800-855-2880. A Relay Communications Assistant will help. A transcript and audio recording of this Special ODF will be posted to the Special Open Door Forum website at http://www.cms.gov/OpenDoorForums/05_ODF_SpecialODF.asp and will be accessible for downloading beginning on or around Friday, January 13, 2012. For automatic emails of Open Door Forum schedule updates (E-Mailing list subscriptions) and to view Frequently Asked Questions please visit our website at http://www.cms.gov/opendoorforums/. Thank you for your interest in CMS Open Door Forums. ____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ It's a Busy Time of Year. Make each office visit an opportunity to talk with your patients about the importance of getting the seasonal flu vaccination and a one-time pneumococcal vaccination. Remember, Medicare pays for these vaccinations for all beneficiaries with no co-pay or deductible. The seasonal flu and invasive pneumococcal disease kill thousands of people in the United States each year, most of them 65 years of age and older. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) also recommends that healthcare workers and caregivers be vaccinated against the seasonal flu. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get the Flu Vaccine-Not the Flu. Remember - The flu vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. CMS has posted the 2011-2012 seasonal flu vaccine payment limits at http://www.CMS.gov/McrPartBDrugAvgSalesPrice/10_VaccinesPricing.asp. Note that the flu vaccine is NOT a Part D-covered drug. For more information on coverage and billing of the flu vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational provider resources, visit http://www.CMS.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp and http://www.cms.gov/immunizations. Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you.
