Today, the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) submitted comments on the Alternative Payment Model (APM) Framework Draft White Paper composed by the Health Care Payment and Learning Action Network (LAN). In the comments, PIPC expresses our belief that a few foundational elements must be in place for an APM framework to be successful. First, new payment models must have the tools to appropriately risk adjust so that bundled, population-based or capitated payment models do not inappropriately restrict access to care for chronically ill and disabled patients.  Second, quality measures must be developed and implemented that capture outcomes that matter to patients so that “quality” and “value” are based on patient needs, preferences and outcomes.  Third, decision aids must exist and be used that provide patients with unbiased access to their treatment options and the impacts of those treatments on outcomes that matter to patients so that shared decision-making is meaningful.  Lastly, a constant feedback loop must exist to identify in real time the impact of new payment models on access to care, particularly for vulnerable populations.

​Today, the Partnership to Improve Patient Care (PIPC) submitted comments on the implementation of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), Promotion of Alternative Payment Models, and Incentive Payments for Participation in Eligible Alternative Payment Models passed as part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).  Since its founding, PIPC has been at the forefront of patient-centeredness in comparative effectiveness research (CER) – both its generation at the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI), and its translation into patient care. Having driven the concept of patient-centeredness in the conduct of research, PIPC looks forward to bringing the patient voice to the discussion of how to advance patient-centered principles throughout an evolving health care system