Quality Metrics, Star Ratings & MIPS

In the past week, CMS under new Trump administration leadership has accelerated two major value-based care experiments: the proposed nationwide mandatory expansion of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR-X) bundled payment model and the launch of the ACCESS model, in which 150 digital health companies and providers will tie chronic disease payments to measurable health outcomes. These moves signal a shift toward more aggressive alignment of payment with quality metrics and technological innovation, while also intensifying debates around leaner payment rates, voluntary participation, and the operational readiness of provider organizations for outcome-driven models. For stakeholders, these developments underscore an environment where both mandatory and tech-enabled voluntary models could redefine success metrics and drive new pressures on performance management and digital partnerships (Hall Render on CJR-X, Healthcare IT News on ACCESS).