Note: iProtean editorial staff will be on holiday next week, celebrating Memorial Day. Look for the next blog/newsletter June 1. Enjoy the holiday! The uninsured rated dropped from a high of 16.3 percent in 2010, the year the Affordable Care Act was enacted, to 9.1 percent in 2015, according to data released by the […]
The financial profiles of US not-for-profit hospitals are stronger than they were three years ago, says Moody’s Investors Service vice president Daniel Steingart. In his summary in Healthcare Quarterly, Steingart notes that “stronger financial footing will undoubtedly help hospitals mitigate the headwinds associated with changing and more stringent reimbursement models.” (“Not-For-Profit Hospitals: Financially Stronger as […]
Moody’s Investors Service reported a continuation of “favorable operating performance” for not-for-profit and public hospitals, citing its preliminary FY 2015 medians. “Strong revenue growth and strengthening profitability margins are due to gains in insurance coverage, volume increases, improved revenue cycle, expense management and the stabilizing of changes implemented by the Affordable Care Act (ACA),” […]
Industry transformation requires major adaptations from healthcare organizations – to increase scale, enhance scope, and achieve differentiation, among others. Partnerships can be a key vehicle to facilitate and pursue these adaptations. Partnerships between academic and community hospitals/health systems are a unique sub-set of healthcare provider partnerships. Academic providers aligning with their community counterparts is, of […]
CMS has issued a proposed rule for FY 2017 that would eliminate a 0.2 percent cut implemented as part of its controversial “two-midnight” policy. “CMS finally saw the light and proposed to terminate their flawed Two Midnight payment cut in the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule,” said an executive from Premier in a […]
A new alternative payment model featuring public-private payer partnerships was announced last week by CMS. The Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model features Medicare-commercial-state health insurance plans partnerships to support the delivery of advanced primary care. Existing alternative payment models range from pay-for-performance, to bundled payments, to accountable care organizations, to global payments. […]
A 77-bed hospital in Indiana fell victim to a ransomware attack on April 4 via an ordinary looking email sent to a clinical worker’s Outlook inbox. The worker opened the email and inadvertently released the malware. Recognizing something was wrong, the worker notified the IT department which immediately shut down all of the hospital’s computer […]
Your selection of post-acute care (“PAC”) partners can make or break your value-based payment programs and care management initiatives. Even where fee-for-service is still dominant, having the right post-acute care partners can improve economic performance by reducing length of stay and minimizing acute care readmissions. Most health systems and hospitals do not own PAC facilities, […]
This blog/newsletter features an excerpt from an upcoming iProtean course featuring Dan Grauman from Veralon. Dan discusses the concepts and payment mechanisms that gained traction from the Affordable Care Act. As is often the case during times of changes in health care, many terms and concepts are used. Population health management is conceptual. It’s […]
Note: iProtean will be at its annual symposium next week. The newsletter/blog will resume the following week. More recruitment for physician employees occurred in urban than rural and suburban areas in 2015. Compared to all placements in 2015, nearly 37 percent were recruited in urban areas compared to 25 percent in 2013, according to […]