Category: ACO

The following is a guest blog post by Ben Quirk, CEO of Quirk Healthcare Solutions. How bad is 2014 for the healthcare industry? We’ve all read about ICD-10, EHR incentives, Medicare cuts, and the Affordable Care Act. But the most telling moment for me occurred during this year’s HIMSS conference in Orlando. There was quite…

The week before open enrollment closes for new health care exchanges, a study by researchers at the USC Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics and the USC Dornsife Center for Economic and Social Research shows that those who might potentially benefit the most from the Affordable Care Act – including those earning near the…

This week, the owners of two secular, for-profit corporations will ask the Supreme Court to take a radical turn and allow them to impose their religious views on their employees -; by refusing to permit them contraceptive coverage as required under the Affordable Care Act. The Supreme Court has consistently resisted claims for religious exemptions…

Brian Jacobs, MD, is a pediatric critical care physician before all else. But there’s quite a lot to his “all else.” As executive director at the Center for Pediatric Informatics and The Children’s IQ Network at the Washington, DC-based Children’s National Medical Center, Jacobs is also the CIO and CMIO. He got there the old-fashioned…

While I wasn’t working in healthcare at the time, I’ve heard a number of doctors say that doctors missed out on being part of the HMO process. Their voice wasn’t part of the process and they suffered as a consequence of that decision. As I consider that idea, I wonder if doctors aren’t in the…

No one challenges reality like Kathleen Sebelius, who assured the world on Sept. 30, 2013 that the Affordable Care Act website would be open for business the next day. “We’re very excited about tomorrow,” Sebelius said. “Shutdown or no shutdown, we’re ready to go.” …read more    

More than 2,900 Michigan doctors have joined POM ACO, a joint venture of the U-M Health System and eight other physician groups that started in 2013. The move more than doubles the size of the ACO. More than 2,900 Michigan doctors have joined POM ACO, a joint venture of the U-M Health System and eight…

Hospital executives are faced with numerous challenges related to healthcare reform in general and the Affordable Care Act in particular. Strategic decisions about how to address these challenges will significantly impact not only the financial and clinical performance of hospitals, but the perception of executive leadership itself. read more …read more    

In July of 2013, when CMS released first-year performance results for the 32 Pioneer ACOs, quality-based metrics showed measurable improvement over traditional fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare. Financial results, however, were inconsistent, with only about 40% of participants qualifying for shared bonuses. …read more    

Researchers of the Tobaco Control Unit of the Catalan Institute of Oncology (ICO) and the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute (IDIBELL) evaluated exposure to snuff smoke in nonsmokers before the entry into force of the first Spanish smoking ban and after the launch of the second law (2011 ) in the city of Barcelona. …read more