Illinois Bone & Joint Institute, with locations in the Chicagoland area, announced it will participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Bundled Payments for Care Improvement program. IBJI is the only independent physician group practice in the state, and one of only a few in the country, participating in the program. The practice will participate in Model 3 and plans to take steps improving care management for orthopedic patients.

The Illinois Bone and Joint Institute, based in Morton Grove, was recently named among the healthcare organizations that will participate in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, according to a Medscape report.

CMS has announced that more than 500 healthcare organizations will start participating in its Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative.

Here are five key concepts of bundled payments for orthopedics.

Florida Blue and Mayo Clinic recently announced a new bundled payment program for knee replacements.

SSM St. Mary's Health Center and SSM DePaul Health Center in St. Louis have both been accepted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid innovation pilot programs to improve the bundled payment process.

The International Society for the Advancement of Spine Surgery has joined with the American Medical Association and more than 100 medical societies in writing Congress about the sustainable growth rate and a transition to a better model of care.

Through a bundled payment agreement, Walmart employees will have access to free spine procedures at certain health systems and hospitals with no out-of-pocket cost, according to a news release published in Bloomberg Businessweek.

Bundled payments may lead to reductions in healthcare spending without affecting quality, according to a recent report by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Here are eight key considerations for bundling orthopedic payments from Mark Bogen, CFO and Senior Vice President of Finance at South Nassau Communities Hospital in Oceanside, N.Y. South Nassau doesn't currently participate in an orthopedics bundled payment program but is strongly considering how to engage the market going forward.