Emergency departments (EDs) are under more pressure than ever. Apart from the growing patient volumes, staffing shortages, and increasing expectations to deliver safe, high-quality care, EDs are also a frequent destination for some of the most vulnerable patients, those transferred from skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) and other post-acute facilities. Too often, SNF patients arrive with…

ABSTRACT Value-based payment (VBP) models are increasingly adopted in oncology to promote high-quality, cost-effective, and patient-centered care. To identify essential characteristics of effective oncology VBP models, a modified Delphi process was conducted with 9 experts representing diverse oncology organizations. Panelists participated in 2 survey rounds and an in-person discussion, evaluating the importance and feasibility of key…

Good data is the lifeblood of good healthcare. Ensuring the right information is available to the right care team members at the right time is essential to delivering high-quality care. Two recent trends in healthcare are underscoring this fact. The first, unavoidably, is artificial intelligence. It is critical to have clean and well-governed to make…

The ACCESS Model is designed to expand tech-enabled care for Medicare beneficiaries with certain chronic conditions, aligning payments with outcomes for better patient health. What’s the impact? A Medicare model targeting conditions like hypertension, diabetes, chronic pain, and depression with scalable, tech-supported solutions. Providers, tech firms, and health systems gain new reimbursement pathways; applications open…

The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) is the largest federal initiative that promotes accountable care and value-based payment models. A central design feature of the program is its tiered approach to financial risk. ACOs generally begin in one-sided models and share in a portion of the savings generated but are insulated from losses if costs…

The Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) is the largest federal initiative that promotes accountable care. Accountable care organizations (ACOs) represent groups of clinicians that take responsibility for patients’ health outcomes and costs. Evidence from MSSP shows that ACOs taking on downside risk have better cost and quality outcomes, but there is not currently a permanent…

All of us can see glaring issues with the healthcare system that need to be addressed — but system-level change is hard. The leap to VBC isn’t easy, but the results are undeniable. I practiced nephrology in eastern North Carolina for nearly 25 years. Like many of my colleagues, I went into medicine to give…