Planning for ACCESS: How Health Systems Can Position for the Next Era of Chronic Care

What health system and ACO leaders need to understand about the CMS ACCESS model and how to prepare before the first cohort begins in 2026.

Overview

Chronic disease drives the majority of healthcare spending in the U.S., yet existing value-based care models have struggled to deliver sustained improvements in outcomes. The CMS ACCESS Model introduces a fundamentally different approach — outcome-aligned payments for technology-enabled chronic care across cardiometabolic, musculoskeletal, and behavioral health conditions.

But there’s a catch: most health systems can’t participate in ACCESS directly due to the FFS exclusion clause. And their patients don’t need them to — Medicare beneficiaries can enroll with ACCESS participants on their own. For health systems, that creates an urgent strategic question: who will your patients be working with?

Join healthcare leaders from Withings, Duke University, and University of California as we discuss what ACCESS means for health systems, what the partnership model between health systems and ACCESS participants looks like, and what leaders should be doing now ahead of the first cohort launching July 5, 2026. The session will conclude with a live Q&A.

What You’ll Learn

During this discussion, our panel will explore:

• The gap in chronic care that the ACCESS model is designed to address
• How ACCESS differs from previous CMMI value-based care models
• What the model means for health systems that cannot participate directly
• How patient enrollment may occur outside traditional health system channels
• What partnerships between health systems and ACCESS participants may look like
• How technology-enabled chronic care programs will operate under ACCESS
• The steps health system leaders should take now to prepare for the first cohort