CMS will not proceed with its planned Direct Decision Support (DDS) innovation model “due to operational and technical issues with the proposed Model design.” When this model was announced in December 2016, it was expected to test a shared decision-making approach outside of the clinical delivery system. On February 2, 2018, CMS announced that it has determined that “design and operational changes necessary to continue with the DDS Model would be too significant and burdensome for participants, and would require a new solicitation.” This announcement follows cancellation of the higher-profile planned cardiac/hip fracture episode payment model and cardiac rehabilitation incentive payment models.

Cancellation of the DDS initiative suggests that the Trump Administration’s recent launch of its first innovation model — Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced — does not mean that the Administration has embraced other innovation models in the pipeline.