U S Government Accountability Office

CMS Innovation Center U S Government Accountability Office

" PPACA created the Innovation Center within CMS. The purpose of the Innovation Center is to test new approaches to health care delivery and payment-known as models-for use in Medicare or Medicaid. GAO was asked to review the implementation of the Innovation Center. Specifically, GAO: (1) describes the center's activities, funding, organization, and staffing as of March 31, 2012; (2) describes the center's plans for evaluating its models and its own performance; and (3) examines whether efforts of the center overlap with those of other CMS offices and how the center coordinates with other offices. GAO analyzed budget and staffing data; reviewed available documentation, such as Innovation Center policies and procedures and functional statements for CMS offices; and interviewed officials from the Innovation Center and other CMS offices, such as the Center for Medicare. GAO assessed how the Innovation Center coordinates in the context of federal internal control standards and key practices for collaboration from prior GAO work. "