Massachusetts has launched a new accountable care certification program designed to implement statewide, all-payer standards as part of care delivery. The program, the first of its kind in the country, is already off to a strong start, according to the Massachusetts Health Policy Commission (HPC), which announced it has certified 17 organizations, including hospitals, health systems and physician groups….
Effective population health management is beginning to require healthcare providers to rely heavily on big data derived from both their own health IT systems and from their business partners. Identifying patients at high risk of developing chronic diseases or falling away from maintenance protocols is a significant challenge for many organizations, but is quickly becoming…
2017 has undoubtedly been a standout year in the realms of telemedicine and digital health. In telehealth alone, much has happened over the past 12 months. A new law in Texas officially gave physicians permission to utilize telemedicine services to treat patients they haven’t met in person, quashing a previous requirement that physician-patient relationships had…
New medical billing codes for non-face-to-face encounters and alternative payment models are trying to change the way Medicare reimburses for primary care, according to researchers at the Urban Institute’s Health Policy Center. The report, supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, showed that CMS aims to find the right payment amount and structure to reimburse…
Telemedicine and digital health are on the rise. Additionally, as the medical field advances, more and more specialties are being added to the mix. These factors prompted two physicians — Michael Nochomovitz and Rahul Sharma — to pen a JAMA viewpoint article on the potential behind a new specialty: the medical virtualist. “This term could be used to…
On the journey toward more value-based care, healthcare professionals must use team-based strategies to appropriately allocate resources, prevent provider burnout, and deliver on quality metrics. Organizations must create both provider and patient engagement to truly deliver value and ensure both stakeholders are meaningful members of the care team. At the Value-Based Care Summit held in…
Forming an accountable care organization is one of the most common strategies healthcare organizations use to transition to value-based care, and several key characteristics and tactics from the most high-performing ones can help other providers build their own successful programs, according to a new report. The Health Care Transformation Task Force studied 11 ACOs across the country by interviewing key…
Senate Bill 870, the Creating High-Quality Results and Outcomes Necessary to Improve Chronic Care Act of 2017, or CHRONIC Act for short, has passed in the Senate by a unanimous vote. Among other things, the bill, which was originally introduced in April by Senator Orrin Hatch (R – Utah), includes provisions that would expand Medicare coverage for telemedicine. Full…
Of the hundreds of conversations I’ve had this year about population health management, there is perhaps no question I get more than how to calculate the ROI of the incredible work many of you are doing to better manage patients and bend the cost curve. Since the impact of care management efforts is often articulated…
Accountable care organizations (ACO) are aimed at decreasing costs while improving quality of care but Massachusetts emergency department directors report an inability to meet ACO goals. Challenges with care coordination often stand in the way of hospitals meeting ACO objectives according to 62% of Massachusetts emergency department (ED) directors that responded to an Annals of…