Just two months after the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ game-changing bundled payment plan, Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR), took effect in 790 hospitals nationwide, the federal agency is headlong into another landmark innovation in healthcare.

In a June 13, 2016, address to the American Medical Association (AMA) Annual Meeting in Chicago, CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt detailed how his agency will implement the 2015 Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, known as MACRA.

What do CJR and MACRA have in common? While MACRA is a broad payment plan for individual healthcare providers and CJR is a hospital reimbursement initiative currently limited to joint replacement surgery and rehabilitation, the two are connected in important ways. This commonality forecasts the future for CMS and the entire healthcare system loud and clear.

Penalties for hospital readmissions, doled out by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, are expected to reach about $420 million this year. Faced with ever-increasing fines and penalties as CMS focuses more on care quality than quantity, hospitals must put a plan into place that addresses readmissions to reduce costs and improve patient care and satisfaction.

What can hospitals do to meet this goal? Guiding, educating and supporting patient self-managed care can reduce the rate of hospital admissions. Making your patients partners in their care will increase their knowledge and satisfaction—and prevent an avoidable return visit.

Technology is pervasive in how we manage our day-to-day activities. 89% of adults in the U.S. report using the Internet or owning a smartphone. The vast majority of patients report that they want email communication with their physician.

How can you take advantage of this ubiquity in healthcare practice? 

The long-awaited Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement initiative (CJR) became reality on April 1, 2016. Under CJR, hospitals must find ways to rein in costs, reduce complications and improve patient outcomes for hip and knee replacements—the most common joint-replacement procedures—in order to receive maximum reimbursements from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).