Many healthcare systems have made creating high-quality and value-based care a top priority. Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) used clinical data and predictive analytics to put a total cost of care plan in place to provide affordable and quality care to thousands of patients in North Texas and cost-effective care for their employers. Oftentimes in the healthcare market, purchasers…
Despite high demand, access to quality and affordable mental health care remains a challenge for many Americans. Less than half of those with mental health illness receive care and only about 10 percent of those with substance use disorders receive treatment, according to the National Survey on Drug Use and Health. For people of color,…
Even before the pandemic, health systems were moving tentatively towards data-enabled, value-based health models. Ibo Teuber, partner of Deloitte’s healthcare practice, says the acceleration of transformation will take patients and players to the next stage of the journey. Full Article
COVID-19 necessitated widespread loosening of state and federal restrictions on and rapid expansion of telehealth. Now, as policy makers consider telehealth in the post-pandemic period, they must make decisions about payment parity—whether to continue reimbursing clinicians equivalent amounts for in-person and telehealth visits. Some argue that telehealth requires less clinical effort and fewer overhead costs…
Stellar Health partners with both payors and Accountable Care Organizations to develop a tailored incentive program to reward the completion of granular value-based care actions by primary care providers. The Stellar Health Platform includes the web-based Stellar Application, which delivers a simple checklist of recommended clinical actions to practices based on each patient’s medical…
In the world of health care, change is never-ending. Politics, government regulation, scientific advancement, technology, and the economics and financing of health care foster shifts to reshape how care is delivered and how much it costs. Many of these shifts are completely invisible to us as health care consumers. But they also drive what is…
Historically, the U.S. healthcare system has evolved based upon the presence of an “event”, i.e., the need for a visit – planned or impromptu – to a medical provider and/or facility. The inefficiencies, glut of utilization and exponentially rising costs that flow from it as funded by the long-standing “fee-for-service” (FFS) payment methodology have been…
As we look toward brighter days post-pandemic, we would be remiss to not reflect on how COVID-19 has challenged healthcare providers, both clinically and financially. While COVID-19 infections have declined, providers have learned from the turbulence of the past year that being prepared to think strategically about their business is critical to providing affordable, quality…
Members of the U.S. House of Representatives this week introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen Medicare’s value-based care models and accountable care organizations (ACOs), among other alternative payment models (APMs). Doctors, hospitals and other providers make up an ACO — the group coordinates care for Medicare patients while limiting extraneous services and preventing medical errors. The better…
Southwestern Health Resources (SWHR) is an integrated health care network formed in 2015 with the purpose of filling gaps in care. It’s also part of one of the top Next Generation Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in the nation. Having an unwavering commitment to lowering “total cost of care” has been a main factor in that…