Home Care Entrepreneur Boehler to Lead CMS Innovation Center

Adam Boehler, an entrepreneur who started home-based care company Landmark Health, has been tapped as the new director of the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI).

The appointment puts someone with home care expertise in charge of the office spearheading new Medicare payment and delivery models, such as bundled payment programs and accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Last December, Politico first reported that Boehler was being considered for this position. In January, rumors circulated that Landmark Health might be sold to free up Boehler, its CEO, to transition to CMMI. Two weeks ago, Landmark announced that private equity firm General Atlantic had become an investor but did not disclose the size of the investment.

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Boehler founded Landmark Health in 2013. The company works with physician groups, health systems and other organizations to provide in-home care for more than 5,000 chronically ill patients, with services including wellness visits, urgent care, post-acute care and care coordination. Its 2018 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization will likely be about $53 million, according to sources who spoke with the Wall Street Journal in January.

Landmark Health had not responded to requests for comment from Home Health Care News as of press time. Boehler is no longer listed as CEO on the company’s website. Christopher Goldsmith is Landmark’s president.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation was created under the 2010 Affordable Care Act and has played a key role in health care reforms over the last eight years. Home health care providers have seen opportunities in some of CMMI’s efforts to drive care to less costly settings, such as the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model.

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Under the Trump administration, some of its initiatives have been curtailed, including mandatory bundled payment programs similar to CJR. However, Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently pledged to keep driving toward value-based care, saying he did not intend to spend time “tinkering with how to build the best joint replacement bundle” and would instead push for more sweeping changes.

“Adam is widely regarded as an innovative leader in the private sector and in him we are lucky to have someone who has designed and implemented new, patient-focused approaches to health care delivery,” Centers for Medicare & Services (CMS) Administrator Seema Verma wrote in an email to staff, The Hill reported.

Written by Tim Mullaney

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