Now that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has set a target of making 50 percent of all Medicare payments through alternative payment systems by the end of 2018, one of those alternative systems, known as “bundled payments,” is receiving a great deal of attention.

Medicare’s Bundled Payments for Care Initiative (BCPI) is testing four models for making such payments: one that addresses care provided in the hospital and three that address post-discharge services.

In a new article titled “Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Initiative,” the journal Health Affairs takes a closer look at these four models, how they work, what they seek to accomplish, and how early BCPI efforts have fared. Find that article here.