A recent study by the HHS Office of Inspector General suggests that Medicare ACOs coordinate care more effectively when they have the right health IT tools in place, particularly when ACO members share one EHR platform and have access to a robust HIE. Folks, I know that reading OIG reports can be about as exciting as watching…
ABSTRACT Care for people living with serious illness is suboptimal for many reasons, including underpayment for key services (such as care coordination and social supports) in fee-for-service reimbursement. Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have potential to improve serious illness care because of their widespread dissemination, strong financial incentives for care coordination in downside-risk models, and flexibility…
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) have come a long way since the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Providers have formed over 1,000 ACOs covering over 32 million patients since the law paved the way for alternative payment and care delivery models. In that decade, ACOs have been redesigning their clinical and financial processes to improve care quality and reduce…
How is your hospital, healthcare system, or clinic measuring up to national standards? Are your patients receiving proper and timely care? For many small and rural systems, these are difficult questions to answer without proper (and often third-party) support. In late 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced the Meaningful Measures initiative,…
Caravan Health, a company that helps community health systems build accountable care and population health programs, is partnering with the Texas Hospital Association (THA) with the aim to assist hospitals and other healthcare providers succeed under value-based payment models. Through the new collaborative, THA and Caravan Health will launch Value TX Health, a statewide clinically…
A majority of patients feel providers should do more to identify and address their social needs, according to a new Kaiser Permanente survey released Tuesday. Among the survey’s key findings was that 97% of respondents said they felt their medical provider should ask about social needs during visits. While 80% of patients surveyed reported they…
Commercial accountable care organizations (ACOs) in California are outperforming two common provider network arrangements in terms of care quality and total cost of care, according to a recent analysis by the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA). Using data from the California Regional Healthcare Cost and Quality Atlas (Atlas), a comprehensive benchmarking tool that examines data from ten health…
More than a half-century ago, it was not unusual for physicians to make house calls. Modern medicine, however, transitioned care from the patient’s home to the provider’s office in an effort to improve efficiency. Still, there are advantages to house calls: to offer the patient convenience and safety, help providers build more personal relationships with…
In the past few years, a growing number of physicians have taken leadership roles in hospitals and health systems. Given that value-based care is a team sport, this is a positive trend. Yet conflict between physicians and finance executives can arise because of their respective knowledge gaps and differing perspectives and work styles. To work…
Despite the competing concerns within the healthcare industry, stakeholders have come to nearly one single conclusion: that the social determinants of health (SDOH) are key factors in patient health. A patient’s social circumstances, including socioeconomic status, educational attainment, housing status, or food security, can have considerable impacts on their health outcomes. After all, if a patient…