This week, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released public comments that were submitted  in response to the CMS Innovation Center’s New Direction Request for Information (RFI). This RFI, which was released in September 2017, received approximately 1,000 public responses.

The September 2017 RFI had solicited feedback for the Innovation center related to promoting patient care and testing market drive reforms including those that empower beneficiaries and provide price transparency. Responses to this RFI came in from a varied group of stakeholders that included health plans, healthcare providers, consumer groups, and professional societies. Some prominent organizations that submitted comments include the American Medical Association (AMA), America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the American Hospital Association (AHA), and Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA). Many responses from these and other organizations discussed improving quality of care for beneficiaries through patient choice, transparency, and physician accountability. CMS notes that many of the comments reflected broad support for reducing burdensome requirements. The public comments are available here.

In conjunction with the release of the comments, CMS announced they were exploring developing a direct provider contracting (DPC) model, as informed by the feedback to the 2017 RFI. A loose description of such a model was provided, saying that CMS would contract with primary doctors and pay these providers a fixed amount to cover primary care services for seniors who opted into the model. CMS hopes a DPC model would improve the beneficiary-physician relationship by giving physicians a platform for providing flexible, accessible, and high-quality care to beneficiaries that actively choose this type of model. CMS announced another Request for Information (RFI) to follow up on their initial one. The RFI for the DPC model is looking for responses related to design features of the model, including:

• Provider/state participation
• Beneficiary participation
• Payment
• General model design
• Program integrity and beneficiary protections.
• Existing CMS initiatives

Comments should be submitted to the CMS Innovation Center at DPC@cms.hhs.gov and will be accepted through May 25, 2018. The full RFI notice is available here.