Category: ACO

For pioneer accountable care organizations, IT has proved valuable in lowering costs and improving outcomes and care, but implementation has not been without its challenges. read more Source: Pioneer ACO officials: Success will hinge on IT

The new report finds that health providers such as massage therapists, chiropractors and athletic trainers often wrote prescriptions — and Medicare paid for them. Source: HHS inspector general details prescription-writing abuses

Patrick Sweeney, MD, MPH, PhD, a long-time member of the medical staff at Women & Infants Hospital of Rhode Island and professor of obstetrics and gynecology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University, was recently presented with the Outstanding District Service Award by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG). Source: Physician…

ThedaCare’s Brian Veara drills down to the rubber-meets-the-road issues when it comes to data and information management in a process-advanced organization committed to rapid clinical transformation. First lesson learned: the practical challenges are many. At the five-hospital ThedaCare integrated health system based in Appleton, Wis., senior executives, and quality, clinician and IT leaders have been…

News outlets examine key points about the health law, including a progress report on implementation issues by the Government Acountability Office. …read more Source: A status check on small business health exchanges

According to the survey of physicians and healthcare professionals, more than half (53 percent) of respondents currently participate in an accountable care organization (ACO), patient-centered medical home (PCMH), and other risk-based or shared savings programs. According to the survey of physicians and healthcare professionals, more than half (53 percent) of respondents currently participate in an…

Community health providers in New Mexico will consult weekly on complex cases with mental health experts through videoconferencing under an expansion of the successful rural telemedicine program Project ECHO. read more …read more Source: Project ECHO expansion to help rural docs provide mental health services

In the impassioned debates over healthcare, one fact is often lost-;Americans pay more but get less for their health care than residents of other high-income countries. I believe we can change that. We can improve the quality of care and reduce our expenses, saving a trillion dollars or more a year, by making our health…

A new health care project in New Mexico — with an eye on expanding the project nationwide — will allow primary care doctors and mental health experts to connect electronically to provide better mental health care to the state’s residents. …read more Source: N.M. project aims to electronically connect primary care, mental health providers

Approval by the Obama administration was expected after it gave its initial go-ahead just hours before Florida Gov. Rick Scott announced his support for the health law’s Medicaid expansion. …read more Source: Federal officials give final OK for Florida's Medicaid managed care plan