Table 3

Practice Characteristics of CPC+ Participants and Nonparticipants Among CPC+ Applicants, Before CPC+

CharacteristicApplicants (n = 4,346)aAmong Applicants P Value
Participants (n = 3,051)b,cNonparticipants (n = 1,295)
Practice size and ownership at baselined
Total no. of practitioners (any specialty), median (IQR)3.0 (2.0-6.0)4.0 (2.0-6.0)3.0 (2.0-5.0)<.001
No. of primary care practitioners, median (IQR)3.0 (2.0-5.0)3.0 (2.0-6.0)2.0 (1.0-4.0)<.001
Practice size
 Large (> 6 primary care practitioners), % (95% CI)23.3 (22.0-24.5)26.6 (25.0-28.2)15.4 (13.4-17.3)<.001
 Medium (3-5 primary care practitioners), % (95% CI)36.2 (34.8-37.6)37.1 (35.4-38.9)34.1 (31.5-36.6).052
 Small (1-2 primary care practitioners), % (95% CI)40.5 (39.1-42.0)36.3 (34.5-38.0)50.6 (47.9-53.3)<.001
No. of attributed Medicare FFS beneficiaries at baseline, median (IQR)410 (231-740)484 (288-837)253 (117-497)<.001
No. of attributed Medicare FFS beneficiaries at baseline per PCP, median (IQR)144 (89-214)159 (107-232)107 (61-173)<.001
Owned by a health system or hospital, % (95% CI)e50.9 (49.5-52.4)54.0 (52.2-55.8)43.7 (41.0-46.4)<.001
Owned or managed by a health system, % (95% CI)46.4 (44.9-47.8)49.3 (47.5-51.0)39.5 (36.9-42.2)<.001
Owned by a hospital, % (95% CI)25.4 (24.1-26.7)27.6 (26.0-29.2)20.2 (18.0-22.4)<.001
Practices with selected transformation experience
PCMH recognition, % (95% CI)f47.5 (46.0-49.0)52.6 (50.8-54.3)35.4 (32.8-38.1)<.001
Participant in a Medicare SSP ACO as of January 1 of the first intervention year, % (95% CI)47.0 (45.6-48.5)46.2 (44.5-48.0)49.0 (46.2-51.7).104
Participant in CMMI’s TCPI, % (95% CI)10.5 (9.6-11.4)10.8 (9.7-11.9)9.7 (8.1-11.3).276
Participant in CMMI’s MAPCP, % (95% CI)g5.6 (4.9-6.3)6.9 (6.0-7.7)2.5 (1.7-3.4)<.001
Participant in CPC Classic, % (95% CI)h9.9 (9.1-10.8)14.1 (12.8-15.3)0.2 (0-0.5)<.001
Primary care transformation experience (PCMH recognitionf, MAPCPg, or CPC Classich), % (95% CI)53.6 (52.1-55.1)60.7 (59.0-62.4)36.8 (34.2-39.5)<.001
Primary care transformation experience or TCPI, % (95% CI)59.4 (58.0-60.9)65.7 (64.1-67.4)44.5 (41.8-47.2)<.001
Primary care transformation experience or TCPI or SSP as of January 1 of the first intervention year, % (95% CI)81.1 (79.9-82.3)84.6 (83.3-85.9)72.9 (70.5-75.3)<.001
Practices with ≥ 1 practitioner attesting to meaningful use of EHRs, % (95% CI)i85.8 (84.7-86.8)90.4 (89.3-91.4)74.9 (72.5-77.3)<.001
Characteristics of practice county
Household income in county in which practice is located ($), median (IQR)j53,164 (45,698-64,916)54,089 (46,185-66,315)49,503 (44,015-61,170)<.001
Rural location, % (95% CI)k8.6 (7.7-9.4)8.7 (7.7-9.7)8.3 (6.8-9.8).646
Suburban location, % (95% CI)k14.8 (13.8-15.9)15.4 (14.2-16.7)13.4 (11.6-15.3).082
Urban location, % (95% CI)k76.6 (75.3-77.9)75.9 (74.4-77.4)78.3 (76.1-80.5).08
  • AAAHC = Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care; ACO = Accountable Care Organization; CMMI = Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation; CMS = Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services; CPC = Comprehensive Primary Care; CPC+ = Comprehensive Primary Care Plus; EHR = electronic health record; FFS = fee for service; IQR = interquartile range; MAPCP = Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice; NCQA = National Committee for Quality Assurance; PCMH = patient-centered medical home; PCP = primary care practitioner; SSP = Shared Savings Program; TCPI = Transforming Clinical Practice Initiative; TJC = The Joint Commission; URAC = Utilization Review Accreditation Commission.

  • Note: Table presents the unweighted mean value for each characteristic. Primary care practices include all practices with ≥1 practitioner (defined as a physician, nurse practitioner, or physician assistant) with a specialty of primary care (defined as family practice, general practice, geriatrics, or internal medicine). The 2018 starters represent 11% of all practices, 7% of applicants, and 5% of participants.

  • Sources: Mathematica’s analysis of data on practice size and ownership from SK&A data; data on the number and characteristics of attributed Medicare beneficiaries from Medicare Enrollment Database and claims data; data on PCMH recognition from NCQA, TJC, AAAHC, URAC, and state-specific data sources; data on Medicare SSP ACO participation from CMS Master Data Management data; data on participation in CMMI’s TCPI, CMMI’s MAPCP, and CPC Classic from CMS; data on meaningful use of EHRs from CMS Medicare EHR Incentive Program; county data from the Area Resource File.

  • a A total of 4,599 practices applied for CPC+. The number of applicants in this table (4,346) is fewer because some applicants could not be identified in the SK&A data, and some applicants had no attributed Medicare FFS beneficiaries at baseline.

  • b The 2018 starters comprise approximately 5% of the participating CPC+ practices and 5% of attributed beneficiaries.

  • c As of April 1 of the first intervention year.

  • d The baseline year is 2016 for the 2017 starters and 2017 for the 2018 starters.

  • e In the SK&A data, a practice can be owned (or managed) by a health system and owned by a hospital.

  • f A practice was considered to have PCMH recognition if ≥ 1 of its primary care practitioners had recognition at some point in 2014-2017 for the 2017 starters and 2015-2018 for the 2018 starters from a state, the AAAHC, TJC, NCQA, or URAC.

  • g We considered a practice to be a MAPCP participant if it participated in any year from 2011-2014 as determined by a file from CMS.

  • h Participants include all those practices that remained enrolled in CPC Classic for at least the first 5 months.

  • i At least 1 practitioner attested to meaningful use under the Medicare EHR Incentive Program from 2011-2015 for 2017 starters and 2011-2016 for 2018 starters.

  • j Reflects 2014 data for the 2017 starters and 2015 data for the 2018 starters.

  • k The urbanicity of a practice’s county (rural, urban, suburban) is derived from the 2013 (latest year available) rural-urban continuum codes (https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/rural-urban-continuum-codes/documentation/) available in the Area Resource Files for both 2017 and 2018 starters.