New PACE programs begin with a desire to provide high-quality care in the community to older people with chronic needs. Translating this desire into a start-up plan requires a thorough understanding of the PACE® Model of Care, the community a prospective PACE program will serve, and your own organization. Developing an understanding of the program and service requirements of the PACE model, its flexibility, and the stages of development across a team of management and clinical leaders will form a foundation for moving forward within the organization.

NPA offers numerous resources and tools for a provider to understand the PACE model, assess the commitment and capacity of its organization, assess community needs, and move forward with development or expansion of a PACE program.

PACE in Your Community: Operating Experience and Critical Success Factors

PACE in Your Community: Operating Experience and Critical Success Factors provides organizations that are developing a PACE program with an overview of the PACE operating experience and important points to be considered prior to developing a PACE program. The document summarizes the cumulative body of experience regarding the six critical success factors for PACE and key considerations that should be evaluated in a market area. At the end of the process of information-gathering, it is recommended that a PACE market and financial feasibility study be conducted prior to beginning the development of a PACE program. A list of important resources is included in the document to assist with the steps in developing a PACE program.

Assessing Community Needs and Organization Commitment and Capacity

• Organizational and Market Self-Assessment for PACE (PDF)
• PACE in Your Community: Operating Experience and Critical Success Factors (PDF)
• PACE Potential Interactive Map

Assessing the needs of your community will help to determine if there is adequate demand to support a new PACE program and will lay the foundation for establishing referral networks that will help the program build census, contract for services to meet PACE participant needs, and foster public support. In addition, consideration of internal and external factors that will determine the success of a PACE program is applied to the development of a business plan, which is the basis for the organization to make a formal decision on whether to move forward with developing a new program.

Planning and Development: PACE Provider Application

A decision to move forward with a new PACE program will require the completion of two PACE Provider Applications that are available from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), a PACE Provider application and a PACE Part D Provider Application.  A prospective PACE sponsoring organization will need to work with state and federal agencies, internal and external funding sources, community organizations and health care providers to assemble an operational PACE program.

PACE Financial Planning Tools

PACE Financial Planning Tools consist of detailed development case studies, a financial proforma model, and the PACE business planning checklist. These tools help organizations assess the viability of developing a PACE program and present their plans for PACE development to others, including external investors. The tools help expanding PACE organizations explain PACE from a financial planning point of view.

• Sources of Financing (PDF): A brief description of financing sources for start-up costs associated with PACE.
• PACE High-Level Proforma

Curriculum Development Guide for Training Health Professionals in Interdisciplinary Geriatric Care

Rural health care providers and health professionals are challenged by the dispersed populations they serve, limited access to services, and strained resources. To overcome these challenges, providers will need to rely on interdisciplinary teams that span large distances, multiple communities and numerous partner organizations. The Curriculum Development Guide, developed with funding from the Health Resources and Service Administration, provides educators and rural health care organizations with learning objectives and modules for training a range of health professionals in the fundamentals of interdisciplinary geriatric care. The guide is designed to be flexible and adaptable to accommodate the learning objectives of a range of disciplines at varied levels of experience and professional development. Health professional educators and rural health care providers are expected to collaborate together to modify and expand its contents.

Click here for a copy of the guide. Click here for instructions on assembling the guide.

More Understanding PACE Resources