How to Participate in PCF

What is PCF?

Primary Care First (PCF) is a voluntary, five-year alternative payment model to reduce Medicare spending by preventing avoidable inpatient hospital admissions, and improve quality and access to care for all beneficiaries, particularly those with complex chronic conditions and serious illness. The program will be offered in 2 waves – 2021-2025 and 2022-2026. (Note: The 2022-2026 wave will only be open to practices currently enrolled in CPC+. If you are not currently in CPC+, you must apply for the 2021-2025 wave.)

To be eligible for PCF from 2021-2025, practices must:

  • Currently not be enrolled in CPC+
  • Be located in one of the Primary Care First regions
  • Include primary care practitioners
  • Provide health services to a minimum of 125 attributed Medicare beneficiaries
  • Have primary care services account for at least 70% of the practices’ collective billing based on revenue
  • Demonstrate experience with value-based payment arrangements
  • Use 2015 Edition Certified Electronic Health Record Technology (CEHRT), support data exchange via API, and connect to their regional, national, or vendor-mediated health information exchange (HIE)
  • Attest to a limited set of advanced primary care delivery capabilities

How does PCF benefit my practice and patient care?

Primary Care First is designed with small practices in mind to reduce reporting and administrative burden. Your participation in PCF means you’re automatically exempt from annual MIPS requirements. The program also eliminates fee-for-service coding and claims submissions complexity so that you can focus more on your patients and on delivering excellent care.

In addition to having less paperwork and more predictable revenue streams, you even have the opportunity to earn up to a 50% bonus for demonstrating high performance.

As government policy and programs continue to center around value-based care, Elation is committed to supporting your participation in programs that focus on prioritizing high-quality, patient-centered care. We recently held an online learning session about the program and reviewed how practices can apply. Please click below to watch a recording of the presentation.

Watch the learning lesson

How to apply

  1. Access https://app1.innovation.cms.gov/PCF and click on “Register for Practice Portal”.
  2. Upon logging into your account, submit an online application. (Note: if your practice has multiple physical locations, an application must be submitted for each location.)
  3. Guidance on answering the application’s IT-related questions can be found below:

Practice Contacts:

First Name:Lucy
Last Name:Li
Title/Position:Program Manager
Business Phone Number:415-660-9670
Business Phone Number Extension:(leave blank)
Alternative Phone Number (e.g., cell phone):(leave blank)
E-mail Address:lucy.li@elationheath.com
Street Address 1:550 15th Street Ste. 21
Street Address 2:(leave blank)
City:San Francisco
State:CA
ZIP Code:94103
Health Information Technology
Is your practice able to complete the health IT requirements indicated listed in the Primary Care First RFA? YESCan you obtain EHR and eCQM data for your Primary Care First Practice Site and Primary Care First Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)/National Provider Identifier (NPI) only, distinct from health system or other practice data? YESCan you obtain registry data for your CPC+ Practice Site and CPC+ Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN)/National Provider Identifier (NPI) only, distinct from health system or other practice data? YES
CMS.gov PCF Application Login Screen
Apply for PCF

Additional resources