HHS names CMMI director to lead value-based care agenda

Credit: Landmark Health

Adam Boehler, director of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, has been placed in charge of the Department of Health and Human Services' value-based care agenda as the senior adviser for value-based transformation and innovation. 

Boehler was named to that role by HHS Secretary Alex Azar. The job will see him working on policies that advance the shift away from fee-for-service reimbursement models and toward payment structures that are tied to the level of quality of healthcare being administered -- something that's been a top priority for HHS.

Boehler is founder and CEO of Landmark Health, a company that provides home-based medical care. He previously served in executive level roles at aLabs, Accretive LLC and MedeFinance. He was named to his post at CMMI by Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Seema Verma in April, though his appointment was delayed while he tried to sell his stake in Landmark.

Essentially an offshoot of CMS, CMMI was created under the Affordable Care Act to test new payment and health delivery models. Verma said late last year that she wants to take CMMI in a new direction and requested stakeholder input on what form that should take.

HHS officials have said that regulations such as Stark Law and HIPAA are acting as roadblocks on the path to value-based care, and have signaled a desire to overhaul those regulations, Politico reported. The department has cautioned those currently in value-based payment arrangements that they'll need to assume more accountability and achieve results more quickly.

Previously, HHS had appointed Dan Best as the senior adviser on drug pricing, James Parker as the senior adviser for health reform and Assistant Secretary for Health Brett Giroir as the top official addressing the opioid crisis.

Twitter: @JELagasse
Email the writer: jeff.lagasse@himssmedia.com