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Forbes Insights: Getting From Volume to Value in Health Care
Download this Forbes Insight Report. This is the challenge of healthcare reform in this country.
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Value-based purchasing, where cost and quality are each integral parts of the equation, is now widely seen as a replacement for traditional fee-for-service reimbursement. For senior hospital and health system executives, the challenge is getting from the-way-things-have-always-been to the-way-things-will-be without tumbling into a fiscal chasm because of the-way-things-are-now.
Getting From Volume to Value in Health Care: Balancing Challenges & Opportunities examines the issues and concerns vital to chief executive officers, chief financial officers and chief medical officers who are charged with leading their institutions on that quest. While as a group they are cautiously optimistic and endorse the goals that value-based purchasing seeks to achieve, they know that the path is neither straightforward nor obstacle free.
See on www.forbes.com
Memorial Hermann Accountable Care organization to participate in Medicare Shared Savings program
Memorial Hermann Accountable Care Organization, an affiliate of Memorial Hermann Healthcare System and its physician network, MHMD, have been selected to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program as an Accountable Care Organization, a new program sponsored by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.
Through the Shared Savings Program, MHACO will work with CMS to provide Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries with high-quality care, while lowering the rate of growth in Medicare costs through preventative medicine and careful management of patients diagnosed with chronic diseases. CMS will use robust quality measures to reward ACOs that achieve these outcomes.
In addition to Memorial Hermann’s 12 hospitals, numerous specialty institutes and advanced outpatient facilities, MHACO is a 332-member provider network comprised of both independent physician practices and physicians employed by Memorial Hermann affiliates. These physicians are a part of the Advanced Primary Care Practices patient-centered medical home initiative developed by MHMD.
MHACO believes a key factor in CMS’ selection of MHACO to participate in the Shared Savings Program is use of the innovative Advanced PCPs, built on MHMD’s clinical integration program that unites independent physicians of every specialty throughout the Houston area in a common commitment to quality and accountability.
See on www.yourhoustonnews.com
For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.
For an aggregation of other articles on improving healthcare, go to my internet magazine Scoop.it! Changing Health for the Better.
The Promise And Peril Of Accountable Care For Vulnerable Populations: A Framework For Overcoming Obstacles
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a promising payment model aimed at reducing costs while also improving the quality of care. However, there is a risk that vulnerable populations may not be fully incorporated into this new model. The authors define two distinct vulnerable populations, clinically at-risk and socially disadvantaged and discuss how ACOs may benefit each group. The authors provide a framework to use in considering challenges for both vulnerable patients and health systems on the path to accountable care. The authors identify policies that can help overcome these obstacles: strategies that support ACO formation in diverse settings and that monitor, measure, and reward the performance of providers that reach all patients, including vulnerable populations.
See on content.healthaffairs.org
For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.
For an aggregation of other articles on improving healthcare, go to my internet magazine Scoop.it! Changing Health for the Better.
QIPP @lert: Accountable care strategies: lessons from the Premier Health Care
Accountable care strategies: lessons from the Premier Health Care Alliance’s accountable care collaborative — This report shares the perspectives of hospitals and health systems taking part in the Premier health care alliance’s accountable care implementation collaborative.
See on qippalert.blogspot.fr
For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.
For an aggregation of other articles on improving healthcare, go to my internet magazine Scoop.it! Changing Health for the Better.
Aurora Health Care and Aetna Form Accountable Care Collaboration, Offer New Commercial Health Care Products
AETNA Press Release regarding New Commwerical ACO Venture:
Aurora Health Care has joined with Aetna (NYSE: AET) to bring employers a new type of commercial health plan designed to improve employees’ health care experience and health outcomes, while controlling costs. The Aurora Accountable Care Network offers businesses a high-quality, affordable alternative in a time of rising health care spending.
“Aetna views accountable care organizations as a model for making health care work better for everyone.”
The Aurora Accountable Care Network offers a price guarantee to employers built upon a health care model that improves quality, outcomes and the patient experience. This type of price guarantee is possibly the first of its kind among accountable care models. Employers will see real savings in what they spend on health care as a result of improved patient outcomes and greater efficiencies. Cost savings will be specific to each employer, with the potential for an average 10 percent reduction based on the employer’s past claims expenses. The plans with Aetna will be effective beginning Jan. 1, 2013.
“This is a game changer,” said Nick Turkal, MD, Aurora Health Care’s president and CEO. “We are pleased to collaborate with Aetna to make our accountable care model available to the commercial health insurance market. As an employer, we have met national quality benchmarks among our own employees, while curbing our health care costs. Now we aim to replicate this success for others.”
Mark T. Bertolini, Aetna chairman, CEO and president, said, “We are building on our strong provider relationships to establish a nationwide accountable network that offers better care at a lower cost for everyone. Aurora Health Care has revolutionized health care in Wisconsin. Aetna’s industry-leading care management programs and consumer tools together with Aurora’s outstanding patient care model will lead to a better overall health care experience.”
See on www.businesswire.com
For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.
For an aggregation of other articles on improving healthcare, go to my internet magazine Scoop.it! Changing Health for the Better.
July 31, 2012 — CMS Hosts ACO Application Process National Provider Call
On Oct 20, 2011, CMS issued a final rule under the Affordable Care Act to establish the Medicare Shared Savings Program (Shared Savings Program), along with a notice for the Advance Payment Model that will provide additional support to physician-led and rural Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) participating in the Shared Savings Program.
These two initiatives will help providers participate in ACOs to improve quality of care for Medicare patients.
On Monday, July 31, 2012, CMS hosts a National Provider Call, where subject matter experts provide an overview and updates to the Shared Savings Program application and Advance Payment Model application processes for the January 1, 2013 Shared Savings Program start date. A question and answer session follows the presentations.
See on www.cms.gov
Aetna and Hunterdon HealthCare Partners Forge Accountable Care Partnership
Aetna and Hunterdon HealthCare Partners announced on July 16, 2012 that they had entered into a new accountable care agreement that will improve the quality and cost of patient care, and help members and plan sponsors save money.
Under the new ACO agreement, 2,200 members in the Hunterdon Healthcare employee benefits plan, and approximately 5,700 fully insured Aetna members who live in five New Jersey counties will be served by the ACO. Aetna members served by this new model are ones who primarily received care from Hunterdon Healthcare’s providers in the last 24 months, as well as those who seek care from Hunterdon Healthcare physicians following the start of the agreement.
See on www.aetna.com
For an aggregation of other articles on Hot Topics in Healthcare Law, go to my magazine on Scoop.it – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law and Regulation and my newspaper on Paper.li – Hot Topics in Healthcare Law.
For an aggregation of other articles on improving healthcare, go to my internet magazine Scoop.it! Changing Health for the Better.
Hot Topics in Health Care Law — Saturday July 7, 2012
Today’s edition of Hot Topics in Health Care Law is available. This topic aggregator/newspaper contains articles that I think are on the cutting edge of health law.
Use of patient centered medical home features not related to patients’ experience of care
See on Scoop.it – Changing Healthcare for the Better
Providing patient care using key features of a Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH), a model of health care delivery promoted by major physician groups, may not influence what patients think about the care they receive, reports a new study in Health Services Research.
See on medicalxpress.com
Cigna/Granite Healthcare Launch Accountable Care Initiative – Healthcare – Leadership – Informationweek
See on Scoop.it – Changing Healthcare for the Better
Cigna will apply analytics tools to help Granite Healthcare Network spot gaps in care and improve care coordination among New Hampshire residents.
See on www.informationweek.com
Joseph Rugg's Health Law Blog 