Big data health analytics specialist CloudMedx has launched a free online calculator to help providers quantify the financial benefits of participating in Medicare’s Chronic Care Management program (CCM).
The tool inputs Medicare beneficiaries and those with two or more chronic conditions within the total population.
From this number, it can calculate the annual incentive for providers and health care systems for their specific location (from more than 80 locations listed) to get a more localized view of the financial benefits.
For example, the average family medicine provider with 460 or so qualified CCM patients can earn $240,000 additional annual revenue with the CCM program.
“Health care payments and reimbursement models are constantly changing. With so many new programs and incentives, it’s hard for doctors to keep up and still take care of their patients,” Tashfeen Suleman, CEO of CloudMedx, told eWEEK. “Moreover, most of these new reimbursement models put a lot of financial and operational burden on these organizations. Many providers are also not aware of the clinical and financial upside that programs like these offer. That’s where CloudMedx is stepping in.”
CloudMedx automatically identifies chronic care patients through its advanced analytics platform, enrolls them electronically and creates automated workflows to help reduce the operational and administrative burden of providers and help them better manage their patient care.
“It solves the technical challenge by use of its advanced analytics to identify and enroll qualified patients. It solves the operational challenge by designing smart workflows that are custom-tailored to patients unique circumstances through its comprehensive care plan,” Suleman said. “And it helps with reimbursements through its built-in financial models that document the time spent with each patient every month in order to capture the 20-minute non-face-to-face interaction.”
He noted the tool also helps in providing education and resources for doctors so they can better understand the payment model and see the upside of adopting it.
The free calculator, now posted on the company’s Website, shows the estimated additional annual gross revenue that a family medicine physician or a large health care system potentially can receive by treating their specific chronic care population with interventions that can improve patient health and quality of life, according to the company.
The CCM program is designed to incentivize health care providers to provide consistent and effective care to their patients who suffer from two or more chronic diseases.
Specifically, Medicare provides an average of $42.60 per beneficiary per month to physicians and other qualified clinical staff to provide at least 20 minutes of non-office-based care through 24/7 access via phone, text or email, as well as medication management.
CloudMedx recently announced the release of its comprehensive chronic care management solution and wants to let providers see for themselves how the CCM program coupled with CloudMedx’s big data analytics platform can benefit their organizations.