To Achieve Its Goals, Population Health Needs More Specialists
By VIKRAM REDDY, MD
I attended a Population Health conference this summer where a number of representatives from large health systems and physician organizations convened to discuss common challenges. Many of my healthcare colleagues assume that anything that carries the label “Population Health” must relate to health disparities and food deserts. While we do address these topics, the vast majority of sessions and conversations had one underlying theme: lowering the total cost of care.
In rebuttal to any charges that our group is far too corporate to be considered a fair example of Population Health advocates, even the...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 28, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized ACO Medicare Population Health Source Type: blogs
CMS Announces Proposed Rule on Innovation Center CJR Model
On August 15, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a proposed rule to reduce the number of mandatory geographic areas participating in the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s (Innovation Center) Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model from 67 to 34. In addition, CMS proposes to allow CJR participants in the 33 remaining areas to participate on a voluntary basis. In this rule, CMS also proposes to make participation in the CJR model voluntary for all low volume and rural hospitals in all of the CJR geographic areas.
Mandatory Model Changes
CMS also proposes through this...
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 24, 2017 Category: American Health Authors: Thomas Sullivan - Policy & Medicine Writing Staff Source Type: blogs
Salvaging MACRA Implementation Through Medicare Advantage
Conclusion
The implementation of MACRA will have a profound and lasting effect on the future US health care system and the practice of medicine. However, unless there are substantive changes to how the law is implemented, MACRA is unlikely to realize the goal of establishing a Medicare payment system that rewards the value and not the volume of health care services. Many of the key objectives of the legislation can be achieved using Medicare Advantage as the platform. (Source: Health Affairs Blog)
Source: Health Affairs Blog - October 17, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: John O'Shea Tags: Medicare Payment Policy advanced alternative payment model APM MACRA Medicare Advantage Merit-Based Incentive Payment System mips Source Type: blogs
A Framework For Understanding ‘ Savings ’ From Accountable Care Organizations
Medicare’s Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program is the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS) flagship population-based payment model. In the ACO program, groups of providers form ACOs and take accountability for the spending and quality of care for the Medicare beneficiaries they serve. The ACO is given a spending target (benchmark) and receives a bonus (i.e. gets to share savings) if actual spending is below the target. In some ACO programs, the ACO must return money to Medicare if spending exceeds the target.
The release of the Office of the Inspector General’s (OIG) report on the savings res...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - October 17, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Michael Chernew and Christopher Barbey Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Medicare Organization and Delivery Accountable Care Organizations Medicare Shared Savings Program payer savings Pioneer ACOs societal savings utilization savings Source Type: blogs
Lessons From Massachusetts ’ Failed Healthcare Cost Experiment
By SOUMERAI, KOPPELL & BOLOTNIKOVA
Massachusetts passed a massive medical cost control bill in 2012, a “Hail Mary” effort to make health-care more affordable in the nation’s most expensive medical market. The problems of the Massachusetts’ law offer invaluable lessons for the nation’s health-care struggles.
Driven in part by a Boston Globe investigation that exposed the likely collusion of the Partners Healthcare hospital system (including several Harvard Medical School teaching hospitals) with Blue Cross/Blue Shield, the largest healthcare insurer in the state, the law marked the biggest health reform since...
Source: The Health Care Blog - September 27, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: John Irvine Tags: Uncategorized cost containment Harvard Medical School Massachusetts Partners Romneycare Source Type: blogs
Just 24 Hours to Go Until Stop Worrying Today Closes
Just a quick heads up today.
There’s only 24 hours left until registration for The Stop Worrying Today Course closes.
Until 1.00 p.m EDT (that’s 17.00 GMT) on Wednesday the 27th of
September you can still join it.
And this is the last time you’ll be able to enroll in the course this year.
So if you are interested in that – and in getting the free bonus course on optimism worth $29 if you join the Standard Edition of the course and 6 additional bonuses plus my Smart Social Skills Course (value $37) if you enroll in the Advanced Edition – then now is the time to take action.
Click here to learn more about St...
Source: Practical Happiness and Awesomeness Advice That Works | The Positivity Blog - September 26, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Henrik Edberg Tags: Personal Development Source Type: blogs
Clinical registry solution market heads toward $2 billion
Specialty medical societies such as the American College of Cardiology and American College of Surgeons sponsor clinical registries that collect observational data on patients with specific conditions or procedures, such as heart failure or joint replacement. This “real world” evidence helps hospitals improve quality of care, meet state and federal reporting requirements, and achieve pay-for-performance bonuses.
Q-Centrix, which provides technology and services that enable hospitals to participate in registries, commissioned Health Business Group to conduct a market sizing and growth study. We found that the ma...
Source: Health Business Blog - September 20, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Announcements Hospitals Research clinical registries Q-Centrix Source Type: blogs
What Product Launch Formula Is Really Like (My Candid Insights)
Today is the last day of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula sale, which itself is a 7-figure launch. Since I bought this program last year and have been involved in the PLF community for almost a year now – and since I’ve received some questions from people who are on the fence about getting it – I recorded a video this morning to share TONS of detail about what it’s like on the inside.
I’m sharing this to help you get clarity on the decision regarding whether or not this would be a good fit for you, so it’s not salesy at all, which I think you’ll appreciate. The purpose is to make...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - September 15, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Abundance Announcements Source Type: blogs
Product Launch Formula on Sale Through September 15
Well huzzah! The new 2018 version of Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula just went on sale this week. He’s including some terrific bonuses, making for a seriously tempting offer. I have to say that his sales video is just masterful. I already own PLF, and he makes me want to buy it again. 🙂
I bought PLF last year, and I can honestly say it’s one of the few products that truly improved my results – dramatically even, since I did my first six-figure launch earlier this year, thanks to what I learned from PLF and from Jeff’s community.
I know it’s a big decision to get involved with PLF. It...
Source: Steve Pavlina's Personal Development Blog - September 12, 2017 Category: Psychiatry & Psychology Authors: Steve Pavlina Tags: Announcements Source Type: blogs
What Every Parent Needs to Know About Back to School Vaccine Threats and Exemptions
Conclusion
Because the mainstream media has financial interest in promoting vaccines, informed parents must seek information elsewhere about back to school vaccine mandates and exemptions. Parents, as you prepare to send your child back to school, do your homework and determine which exemptions are available in your area. A list of vaccine exemptions for all fifty states is published online by the National Vaccine Information Center.
Sharing this article with other parents will also help them make informed decisions about vaccines.
References:
http://www.nvic.org/vaccine-laws/state-vaccine-requirements.aspx
http://www.oma...
Source: vactruth.com - August 17, 2017 Category: Allergy & Immunology Authors: Missy Fluegge Tags: Top Stories truth about vaccines Vaccine Exemptions Source Type: blogs
What Should We Conclude From ‘ Mixed ’ Results In Payment Reform Evaluations?
Now that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) repeal-and-replace process is coming to an end, perhaps it’s a good time to turn to an area of health policy where there is considerably more bipartisan consensus: payment reform. Even here, however, challenges remain. A recent spate of evaluations, reviews, and published perspectives have cast doubt on the promise and spending-reduction potential of care coordination initiatives, shared savings accountable care organizations (ACOs), patient-centered medical homes, and bundled payments in particular. As the Trump administration, members of Congress, states, and other health care sta...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 14, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Len Nichols, Alison E. Cuellar, Lorens Helmchen, Gilbert Gimm and Jay Want Tags: Costs and Spending Featured Payment Policy Accountable Care Organizations Patient-Centered Medical Home Payment Reform Source Type: blogs
Suggestions For A Bipartisan Approach On Health Care
In the wake of Senate Republicans’ failure to roll back key features of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there is renewed interest in exploring a bipartisan approach. Following their votes that halted action on the Senate repeal legislation, Senators John McCain, Susan Collins, and Lisa Murkowski called for a bipartisan fix for health insurance markets. A coalition of nearly 40 House Republicans and Democrats, dubbed the Problem Solvers Caucus, has advanced a proposal to stabilize individual insurance markets and encourage state experimentation.
Although it is unclear whether such efforts will bring opposing sides together...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - August 10, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Joseph Antos and James Capretta Tags: Featured Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage Payment Policy Quality ACA repeal and replace American Health Care Act bipartisanship Source Type: blogs
The Stop Procrastinating Now Course is Open to Join (but Closes on Monday)
We are now entering the last part of summer and as vacations are ending many are going back to work or school.
And to help you to get a great start with that and make the second half of 2017 your most successful, action-filled and fulfilling time yet I have now opened up the doors again to the 10-week Stop Procrastinating Now Course.
If you join during this period you also get free life-time access to all the material in my 31 Days to a Simpler Life Course as a special bonus.
Plus, you get free access to 6 extra bonuses on motivation, on getting your day off to a great start and more.
The registration to join this course w...
Source: Practical Happiness and Awesomeness Advice That Works | The Positivity Blog - August 2, 2017 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Henrik Edberg Tags: Personal Development Source Type: blogs
Universal Health Insurance? Why?
The Congressional health care debate has become a war between two seemingly irreconcilable extremes, coverage versus budget control. Health care is a right, thunders Bernie Sanders (I-VT). There’s no free lunch, roars back Rand Paul (R-KY). We think both sides miss the boat. Forcing health care into this simplistic left-right straitjacket misleads the nation. It is time to recast the issue properly.
Public Investment
Universal health insurance is better viewed as neither owed to us by government nor a government give-away; both labels misinform. A more insightful analogy is universal public education. Does government...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - July 25, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Walter McClure, Alain Enthoven and Tim McDonald Tags: Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage ACA repeal and replace single payer Source Type: blogs
Universal Health Coverage? Why?
The Congressional health care debate has become a war between two seemingly irreconcilable extremes, coverage versus budget control. Health care is a right, thunders Bernie Sanders (I-VT). There’s no free lunch, roars back Rand Paul (R-KY). We think both sides miss the boat. Forcing health care into this simplistic left-right straitjacket misleads the nation. It is time to recast the issue properly.
Public Investment
Universal health coverage is better viewed as neither owed to us by government nor a government give-away; both labels misinform. A more insightful analogy is universal public education. Does government ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - July 25, 2017 Category: Health Management Authors: Walter McClure, Alain Enthoven and Tim McDonald Tags: Featured Following the ACA Insurance and Coverage ACA repeal and replace single payer Source Type: blogs
