The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) awards Blue KC the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus Payer of The Year
For more information contact:
Kelly Cannon
Kelly.Cannon@BlueKC.com
W: 816.395.3711, C: 816.686-3842
KANSAS CITY, MO. (May 21, 2019) —Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City (Blue KC) received the inaugural “CPC+ Payer of the Year” award from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)/ Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) for its exemplary partnership throughout the first two years of the initiative. Blue KC was chosen out of 56 commercial and State payers for its outstanding commitment to primary care transformation and alignment with CMS in payment, quality measurement, data sharing, and learning supports. Blue KC was specifically recognized for its investment in primary care and its longstanding relationships with CPC+ practices in the Kansas City region.
Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) is a national advanced primary care medical home model that aims to strengthen primary care through regionally-based multi-payer payment reform and care delivery transformation. The goals of CPC+ are to increase access to and improve the quality and efficiency of primary care, which ultimately, is intended to achieve better health outcomes at lower costs. CPC+ also aims to enhance the experience for primary care practitioners.
In 2017, Blue KC led efforts to apply for Kansas City to be chosen by CMS as one of 18 regions that would pilot the CPC+ initiative. “We’re proud to be part of the CPC+ initiative to transform the delivery of and payment for comprehensive primary care services,” said Dr. Greg Sweat, Chief Medical Officer at Blue KC. “An established primary care routine improves patients’ continuity of care leading to improved health outcomes, at Blue KC our members’ health is our top priority, so we were happy to lead the effort to bring CPC+ to the Kansas City area.”
According to an independent evaluation of CPC+, 800+ clinicians in more than 100 practices are participating in the program in Kansas City. CPC+ is projected to generate more than $40 million in new primary care payments in the Kansas City region over the five-year course of the program1.
1 Independent Evaluation of Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+), Mathematica Policy Research
Blue KC will continue to transform primary care services across the five functions required by CMS including (1) access and continuity, (2) care management, (3) comprehensiveness and coordination, (4) patient and caregiver engagement, and (5) planned care and populations health. To learn more about primary care services, including Blue KC’s latest offering, Spira Care, visit https://www.bluekc.com/.
About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, the largest not-for-profit health insurer in Missouri and the only not-for-profit commercial health insurer in Kansas City, has been part of the Kansas City community since 1938. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City provides health coverage services to more than one million residents in the greater Kansas City area, including Johnson and Wyandotte counties in Kansas and 30 counties in Northwest Missouri. Our mission: to provide affordable access to healthcare and to improve the health of our members. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information on the company, visit its website at BlueKC.com.