Marian V. Wrobel
Principal Researcher
View Bio PageAccelerating how healthcare innovates
Healthcare systems nationwide face growing pressure to deliver better outcomes while containing costs. Yet traditional evaluation can be slow, requiring significant time to test, learn, and adopt effective care delivery and payment models. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) needed a way to improve health system performance more quickly, without compromising evidence quality.
To help CMS identify promising practices earlier, Mathematica, with its partners New York University Langone Health and L&M Policy Research, is working with the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI), also known as the CMS Innovation Center, to launch the Rapid Cycle Innovation Program (RCIP). This new program uses rapid cycle randomized controlled trials (RRCTs) to rigorously and quickly evaluate care delivery and payment models, empowering CMS and model participants to make informed decisions faster.
Innovating with urgency to improve care and cut costs
RCIP focuses on ideas most likely to improve patient outcomes and tests them under real-world conditions as programs actually operate, not in idealized settings. Built with scale in mind, the program generates insights that support broader adoption of effective practices across CMS models while protecting taxpayer investment.
RCIP is designed to improve outcomes for CMS models and their participants by:
- Identifying specific care delivery strategies and tactics that drive success, along with the conditions under which they work
- Supporting rapid diffusion of successful approaches to inform CMMI activities and the broader healthcare field
- Advancing model participants’ capabilities in implementation science and quality improvement
Speed and rigor by design
RCIP uses RRCTs to help CMS learn, adapt, and decide sooner, without sacrificing rigor. Mathematica supports all aspects of the program, including developing program strategy, selecting models or strategies to test for RRCTs, identifying model participants to serve as RRCT hosts, and guiding hosts through all phases of RRCTs. Mathematica also helps disseminate findings and communicate insights to promote learning and improve the quality of current and future tests.
By combining advanced data solutions, rapid feedback loops, and human-centered design, RCIP delivers action-oriented evidence through:
- Rapid cycle evaluation methods
- Integrated qualitative and quantitative insights
- Close collaboration
- Iterative testing and refinement across learning cycles, enabling course correction before large-scale investment
In this critical project, Mathematica supports RRCTs while also uncovering insights and developing materials that CMS can use to disseminate this quality improvement method among its accountable care organizations.
From testing to action—faster
By accelerating rigorous learning, RCIP identifies practices earlier that are ready for implementation and show the most promise for improving efficiency, effectiveness, and impact across CMS programs.
RCIP has the potential to advance affordable care delivery for millions of Americans served by Medicare and Medicaid, supporting better stewardship of taxpayer dollars while enabling earlier decisions about what works.
For more information on this exciting program, please visit the CMS Innovation Center site.
Mathematica is a trusted partner for evidence-based innovation
With decades of experience supporting CMS and federal agencies, Mathematica helps decision makers navigate complex challenges with confidence. We balance speed, rigor, and relevance by integrating evaluation expertise, advanced data analytics, and human-centered design, ensuring evidence is both credible and usable.
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Let’s accelerate what works. Connect with us to learn more about RCIP.
