Category: ACO

A study to evaluate whether accountable care organizations (ACOs) are prepared to maximize the value of medications to achieve quality benchmarks and cost offsets found high readiness in some areas,… read more …read more

As 2014 begins, I marvel at the evolution of the CIO role from 1997 to 2014. Gone are the days when my role was to serve as technical expert, configuring web servers, optimizing data bases, or simplifying code. Gone are the days when product decisio nmaking depended on software architecture expertise to ensure scalability, reliability…

Happy New Year? As I begin the 2014 Meaningful Use measures readiness assessment and vendor cat-herding exercises, I’m reflecting on this portion of CMS’s Director of E-Health Standards and Services, Robert Tagalicod and the ONC’s Acting National Coordinator Jacob Reider’s statement regarding the Meaningful Use timeline modification: “The goal of this change is two-fold: first,…

[The] problem with the Affordable Care Act isn’t the insurance industry. In fact, the main benefits of nationalized health care can be achieved in systems with hundreds, even thousands, of for-profit insurers. … …read more

I read with great interest this week’s proposals to improve electronic health records in the new year. First we have Jacob Reider, Acting National Coordinator for Health IT, who published a blog post on Jan. 6 acknowledging that EHR usability continues to be an unresolved issue that remains a priority for ONC.” Then we have…

The Affordable Care Act, dubbed ‘ObamaCare’, has proven to be one of the most controversial legislative acts of the Obama presidency. New research, published in Stress & Health explores the psychological relationship between patients and health insurance coverage, finding that adults with private or no health insurance coverage experience lower levels of psychological distress than…

The Little Sisters of the Poor, an organization of Roman Catholic nuns that runs nursing homes around the country, is testing the contraceptive coverage mandate of the Affordable Care Act. Last week, we’re sorry to say, the nuns won a temporary reprieve from Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor. Under the law, most employers are required…

MedHOK, a Tampa, Fla.-based company that provides an integrated care management platform for accountable care organizations (ACOs) and risk-bearing entities, received $77.5 million in equity investment this week. MedHOK, a Tampa, Fla.-based company that provides an integrated care management platform for accountable care organizations (ACOs) and risk-bearing entities, received $77.5 million in equity investment this…

When it comes to healthcare analytics, providers simply cannot have it all. A newly released KLAS report, Healthcare Analytics: Making Sense of the Puzzle Pieces, indicates that most vendors are struggling to deliver ease of use and robust functionality. With movement toward value-based care, newer healthcare models, and ACOs, providers’ analytics needs and expectations are…