Category: ACO

​The increased demand for primary care services expected to result from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may be felt strongly in rural areas. While studies have found that the quality of care delivered to rural patients is as good or better than that available in urban areas, the belief persists that top-quality primary care is…

A selection of health policy stories from Minnesota, Texas, Louisiana, Florida, New York and Massachusetts. …read more    

0 In the age of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO’s), big data and analytics are all the rage. If one is going to be measured and accountable for patient care beyond the immediate encounter, then having information available to make improvements is essential. It’s not just having the data though, it’s being able to do something…

There’s a storm brewing in the healthcare security and privacy arena that will stretch the resources of even the most nimble healthcare provider organizations, as they face challenges on multiple fronts. On the policy side, providers will face steeper fines for breaches, backed up with tighter enforcement. Meanwhile, rapidly evolving medical devices, coupled with the…

Given changing reimbursement incentives and collaborative models for physicians and hospitals, Greg Mertz, managing director of Physician Strategies Group, LLC, discusses why the Congressional proposal “Better Care, Lower Cost Act” of 2014 is financially more attractive to providers than ACO models and whether he thinks it will be passed. He also deconstructs CMS’ recently reported…

There are three key benefits to prudent sharing of performance data among physicians, notes Cynthia Kilroy, senior vice president of provider strategy and business development at Optum, who suggests a four-step systematic approach for data dissemination that moves companies away from simply creating “metrics in a box.” Besides the electronic health record, she recommends three…

The following is a guest post by Barry Haitoff, CEO of Medical Management Corporation of America. Much of the focus of healthcare has been on meaningful use and the EHR incentive money. Considering we just reached $19 billion of payouts, it’s definitely a topic worthy of attention. However, a topic which hasn’t gotten nearly as…

The “accountable care organization” (ACO) is a major topic of discussion in American health policy. While the ACO label has been around since 2006, it was mentioned in numerous healthcare reform bills proposed in 2009 and was ultimately included in Section 3022 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) as the Medicare Shared…

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Improve provider communication and transparency by sharing insight into the claims lifecycle, risk scores, and value-based contracts. MedeAnalytics Provider Engagement creates a collaborative environment to increase cost-efficiency, improve provider satisfaction, ensure quality care, and benchmark physician performance—easing the transition to shared risk plans and the Affordable Care Act’s risk adjustment program. …read more