On December 1, CMS announced the Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions, ACCESS Model which will supports CMS’ work on modernizing the nation’s digital health ecosystem and empowering Medicare beneficiaries through greater access to innovative health technologies. The Health Tech Ecosystem momentum is strong, and it is proving that the technology to transform care is available today. However, a payment mechanism that supports technology enabled care and the outcomes they achieve is needed. The ACCESS Model fills in that gap.
CMS will begin accepting applications for the 10-year voluntary model on January 12, 2026, with an initial deadline of April 1, 2026. ACCESS will begin July 1, 2026.
There has been a significant amount of hype over the announcement throughout the industry. What are they saying?
CMS Convenes Leaders Across Government, Clinician Societies, Digital Health Industry to Discuss Innovation Center ACCESS Model
Read the ACCESS Technical Frequently Asked Questions from CMS.
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By Laura Young, Co-Founder & Managing Director, Converge Health
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The CMS ACCESS Model, Outcomes, and the Emerging Question at the Heart of Chronic Care: How Will We Prove Continuity?
When CMS releases a new model, industry insiders usually brace for a wave of webinars, FAQs, and interpretation gymnastics. The ACCESS Model skipped that ritual. It arrived with an unambiguous purpose and sent ripples through clinical, behavioral health, and social care communities almost immediately. Read the article.
AMA welcomes CMS model targeting chronic conditions with tech tools
The American Medical Association (AMA) applauded the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for launching a voluntary initiative to test technology-supported care for the millions of patients with chronic conditions in Original Medicare. “ACCESS is an important step toward bringing new, effective digital health tools into everyday care for Medicare patients. We applaud CMS and, in particular, Director Abe Sutton’s team at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation, for this new approach,” said AMA CEO John Whyte, MD, MPH.
Read the release.
ACCESS Unlocked: CMS’s Bold New Model for Tech-Enable Chronic Care Management
CMS has leaned into technology-supported care for certain chronic conditions in its recently unveiled Advancing Chronic Care with Effective, Scalable Solutions (ACCESS) Model, a ten-year national voluntary demonstration that incorporates Outcome-Aligned Payments (OAPs) to Medicare Part B reimbursement for chronic condition management. Under ACCESS, participating organizations (defined below) receive recurring OAPs for helping manage qualifying chronic conditions, with additional payments for hitting specified outcome measures across the enrolled population. The amount to be paid to the participating organization has not yet been released. Unlike most other care management models paid for by CMS, beneficiaries can enroll directly into the model or be referred by a provider.
Read the article.