Publication Date: June 4th, 2009
Publication Type(s): Policy Brief
Topic(s): Hospitals and Clinics, Medicare, Post-acute Care
Author(s): Town, R., Gregg, W., Moscovice, I., Prasad, S., Klingner, J., Dickerson, C.
Bundling Medicare payments, i.e., providing a fixed payment for a set of acute and post-acute services, has been proposed as a way of encouraging providers to find innovative, cost reducing strategies to provide better coordinated care. This brief describes challenges to implementing bundled payments in rural settings and discusses potential contracting and reimbursement strategies to address these challenges.