If there’s a silver lining to the Covid-19 pandemic, it’s the spotlight it has put on the role of value-based, virtual health care models to address issues such as access to specialists, healthcare speed and efficiency, and healthcare inequities. Indeed, approximately 75 percent of employers in a recent survey said they plan to ramp up their implementation…
U.S. health care payment and delivery-system reforms have focused on improving care by making organizations accountable for outcomes, quality, and costs. Payers have supported the implementation of accountable care organizations (ACOs), bundled-payment models, and other value-based payment reforms because they believe that holding health care systems accountable for population-level costs and quality will be more…
The COVID-19 pandemic compressed a decade of healthcare transformation into mere months. Healthcare leaders have been challenged with rethinking every aspect of the business, from how care is delivered to planning for the workforce needs of the future. At the same time, consumers continue to be a driving force in shaping healthcare’s mission. Today’s healthcare…
The Department of Health and Human Services wants to test models that would pay drugs based on their clinical value as part of a new plan to tackle high prices. The plan released Thursday lays out several administrative tools the agency plans to take to address high prices. It also calls on Congress to adopt several reforms…
Although accountable care organizations (ACOs) appear to be saving money for Medicare, they haven’t caught on as fast as proponents would like. As part of our occasional series of interviews with members of Congress, MedPage TodayWashington Editor Joyce Frieden spoke with Rep. Suzan DelBene (D-Wash.) about her legislation to improve ACOs and encourage more physicians to sign up…
Social determinants of health (SDOH) have been talked about for years, but the COVID-19 pandemic has proved beyond a doubt how powerfully they impact patient outcomes. Data shows that socioeconomically disadvantaged populations globally are over-represented among COVID-19 cases and deaths. Yet, such data may only be the tip of the iceberg. Over the past 18 months, the…
On August 25, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2020 performance results for accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) – the agency’s cornerstone accountable care initiative. ACOs and value-based care advocates have been anxiously awaiting this latest MSSP data, given the significance of performance…
Many healthcare workers experience social determinants of health, with new data published in Health Affairs particularly outlining disparities in food insecurity between healthcare support staff and clinical staff. Although food insecurity is lower among the total healthcare worker population than the rest of the United States, healthcare support staff are significantly more likely to experience food insecurity…
“All in.” “Bet on the future.” “Go big or go home.” “No guts, no glory.” “Nothing ventured, nothing gained.” None of those forward-looking, motivational words of encouragement describe how most healthcare providers feel about value-based reimbursement. A better word would be “fear.” That’s my read of the latest population health survey by Numerof & Associates…
Value-based care has gained significant traction in the U.S. over the past few years, and for good reason. With healthcare costs outpacing income growth and health insurance deductibles increasing by 212% over the past decade, many patients are left feeling that their health insurance doesn’t provide as much value as it did 10 years ago….