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The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is launching its Bundled Payments for Care Improvement program for Medicare beneficiaries, the latest in a series of initiatives to revamp the delivery and payment of care, such as accountable care organizations and patient medical homes, authorized under the Affordable Care Act.

More than 500 organizations will participate in four models of bundled payments that vary on the types of providers participating and the services included in the bundle. Thirty-two organizations will start testing bundled payments for acute hospital stays as early as April, with CMS soon to announce an opportunity for more organizations to join.

Providers starting between now and July in the other three bundled payment models will receive data from CMS on care patterns and share lessons on how to improve care during a first phase of these models. Providers in a second phase take on financial risk starting in July.

A list of participants and more information is available here.