The Medicare and Medicaid Innovation Center canceled a plan to improve the coordination of care for critically ill patients under Medicare, saying it could not recruit enough beneficiaries in the model to fully test it.

This component is part of the Primary Care First model, a voluntary payment model designed to encourage primary care practices to provide additional care, such as 24/7 access to clinical call lines, integrated behavioral healthcare, and better interaction with patients and caregivers.

The critically ill population segment aims to improve care for beneficiaries who are seriously ill but do not have primary care doctors. This component will provide clinicians who provide hospice care or palliative care services with practical opportunities to coordinate the care of beneficiaries with additional health needs.

The agency accepted the application for the model component, but it never started. The Innovation Center suspended the review of the critically ill population component in the spring and officially withdrew the component on Tuesday.

The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services stated in an email update that the review determined that the component’s method of reaching beneficiaries would not attract enough participants.

“The Innovation Center is committed to testing interventions focused on improving the care of beneficiaries of critical illnesses. As part of the Innovation Center’s strategic update, we will explore other ways to serve these beneficiaries through existing models or new model opportunities. We look forward to providing them when available More information,” CMS said.

LeadingAge, a non-profit association of elderly service providers, said it plans to continue discussions with CMMI on how to improve hospice care and chronic disease care.

“For some LeadingAge members who plan to participate in the model directly or through subcontracting relationships with participating primary care practices, this announcement will be disappointing,” postal Said on its website.