CMS Innovation Center releases white paper on its strategy for the next decade

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Innovation Center today released a strategic plan to guide its health care payment and delivery models and priorities over the next decade. The plan focuses on five strategic objectives: drive accountable care, advance health equity, support innovation, address affordability, and partner to achieve system transformation.

"A commitment to the five strategic objectives and to measuring progress against defined metrics will guide revisions to existing models and the development of a more streamlined portfolio that can drive broad system transformation," the report states. "Cross-cutting issues identified in this white paper will be critical to success, including engaging in deeper collaborations with beneficiaries and patient advocates, advancing access to value-based care for underserved populations, and sharing data with external researchers and experts to accelerate learning. … Beyond reducing costs and improving quality, success must also be measured by how its models impact CMS programs, patients and families, providers, payers, states, and the broader health care system to ensure all benefit from and participate in this vision."

During a webinar today on the new strategy, CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said the center will work to improve communication with participants, including better data sharing and robust engagement with stakeholders. For more on the strategy, see the CMS FAQs and webpage.