Medical Malpractice (aka Professional Liability) insurance is one of the most vital and expensive insurance coverages physicians carry and is required by law in most states. In the current healthcare environment, it is crucial for providers to educate themselves before choosing a Medical Malpractice insurance carrier. It is a provider’s worst nightmare to purchase expensive…
A stronger payment incentive for certain coordinated care organizations could be the key to reducing healthcare costs, according to the primary group that advises Congress on Medicare policy. At a public meeting last week, members of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) discussed possible tweaks and changes to accountable care organizations (ACOs), including expansion of a major bonus incentive…
The population-based movement is well underway, as is the growth of accountable care organizations (ACOs). The idea behind ACOs, as established by the Affordable Care Act (ACA), is that payers hold providers jointly accountable, financially and for their patients’ outcomes, to spur more coordinated patient care, ensure patients are receiving the care they need, and…
In 2011, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released new rules under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), aimed at helping doctors, hospitals and other providers better coordinate care by way of accountable care organizations, or ACOs. ACOs provide a framework for rewarding providers financially — in both the public and private sectors…
The healthcare payment process is undergoing a dramatic transformation as payers and providers shift from volume to value. While stakeholders are currently piloting many different value-based care models, accountable care organizations are among the most popular and successful strategies to date. Accountable care organizations, or ACOs, are groups of hospitals, physicians, and other providers who…
The inaugural MIPS 2017 submission period closed in a fog of uncertainty. The demise of MIPS looms on the horizon, with little discussion of opportunities for improvement. Heath and Human Services Secretary Azar has advocated for removing the quality reporting component of MIPS, while the Medicare Payment Advisory Committee (MedPAC) recommended scrapping MIPS altogether and pushed…
The Medicare Shared Savings Program has performed considerably below the financial estimates from the Congressional Budget Office made in 2010, when the MSSP was enacted as part of the Affordable Care Act, according to a new analysis from Avalere. This has raised questions about the long-term financial success of Medicare’s largest alternative payment model. The…
It is no secret that millennials are a driving force in society today, and a new survey shows that their demands and behaviors differ from baby boomer and Gen Xers, and could reshape the healthcare industry especially when it comes to primary care and telehealth. The 2017 Employee Benefit Research Institute/Greenwald & Associates Consumer Engagement…
Healthcare organizations have long employed various approaches to risk management to prepare for risks that are unique to healthcare delivery settings, such as adverse events that pose harm to patients, visitors, and employees. However, with the advent of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), which mandates the tethering of clinical and financial operations together into value-based…
At UAMS Medical Center in Little Rock, Ark., clinicians are prompted by their electronic health record system to ask patients personal questions about their home life and eating habits. Those inquiries over the past few years helped reduce the hospital’s overall readmission rate to 10% from 13.8% before it began gathering data on social determinants…