198. The CMMI ACCESS Model explained

Catherine Olexa-Meadors, head of growth and partnerships at Town Hall Ventures, joins Joshua Israel, MD, and Sean Cavanaugh to discuss the recently announced ACCESS (Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions) Model from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), also known as the CMS Innovation Center. They explain the new health care payment system, which includes outcome-aligned payments tied to demonstrating improved patient outcomes, and how advances in technology, specifically in digital patient engagement, could help this model succeed. They also explore challenges, including the delay in the announcement of payment rates and the concern that patients not in an accountable care organization (ACO) may not have someone monitoring the total cost of care. 0:00 Intro 0:27 What is the ACCESS Model? 4:53 What is Town Hall Ventures? 8:18 Why was the ACCESS Model created? 14:12 Potential scale of the ACCESS Model 17:38 What does the ACCESS Model mean for accountable care organizations (ACOs)? 19:38 The importance of technology in the ACCESS Model 22:21 Payment structure in the ACCESS Model Want to learn more? Read the Aledade Policy Institute’s insights into Medicare changes in 2026: https://www.google.com/url?q=https://aledade.com/value-based-care-resources/hot-topics-in-health-care-policy/medicare-changes Watch Abe Sutton, director of CMMI, on The ACO Show discussing CMMI models with Aledade CEO and co-founder, Farzad Mostashari: https://aledade.com/value-based-care-resources/aco-show-podcasts/cmmi-strategy-abe-sutton Connect with Aledade on social media: Follow Aledade on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/aledade/ Follow Aledade on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AledadeACO/ Follow Aledade on X: https://x.com/AledadeACO Follow Aledade on Instagram: http://instagram.com/aledadeaco