Rehab Select Blog

If you will be having joint replacement surgery in the near future, chances are that you may have heard about the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, commonly abbreviated as CCJR or CJR. This initiative, which was rolled out by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as of April 1, 2016, mandates the participation of acute care hospitals in 67 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) in a bundled payment program for hip and knee replacement procedures.

Bundled care payment models can be very beneficial to your practice and your patients, provided your venture into these arrangements is well thought out and efficiently managed. Perhaps the most important thing to know as you prepare to align with this relatively new value-based payment model is that you'll need strong leadership and solid strategies to meet the cost control and quality benchmarks that are built into bundled payment plans. Among the most important points to consider as you strive to make the most of the bundled payment model, consider the following. 

The bundled payment initiative for joint replacement surgeries was set to begin on April 1, 2016. This initiative, finalized by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in November, 2015, is known as the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model and will affect, as of its start date, approximately 800 hospitals that deliver care to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries for hip and knee replacements and/or other major leg procedures. Here we'll get into the basic details that patients and caregivers will need to know about this initiative.