Note: iProtean Connect will take a break next week because of the iProtean Symposium at The Lodge at Torrey Pines in La Jolla, CA. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently provided more information on its “Next Generation of ACO Model,” an initiative for accountable care organizations (ACOs) that are experienced in […]
Efficiencies in delivery of care for heart attack, heart failure and pneumonia for Medicare patients increased sharply from 2002 to 2011, according to a study to be published in Health Affairs in March. Heart attack and heart failure productivity grew 0.62 percent and 0.78 percent respectively; productivity growth for pneumonia reached 1.9 percent. Researchers […]
Large health systems and other healthcare groups including the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association (AHA) have approached the current Administration with suggestions about how to rework the Medicare Shared Savings Program’s accountable care organizations (ACOs). These groups contend that the timeframe for taking on risk is too short and the bonuses […]
Last week we reported that the Department of Health and Human Services announced its initiative that 50 percent of Medicare payments be delivered through alternative payment models by 2019. This is the first time Medicare has set specific time frames and payment percentages for the shift away from fee-for-service payments. Provider advocates, according to […]
Both MedPAC and HHS released recommendations for hospital payments during the last week. MedPAC (the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission), the primary Medicare advisory group to Congress, finalized its recommendation for a 3.25 percent increase in acute care hospital rates in 2016. HHS (Department of Health and Human Services) set specific goals for the […]
Last week we presented the Healthcare Financial Management Association’s (HFMA) Value Project strategies for value transformation. To make the strategies actionable, we now present the tactics identified by the Value Project. These tactics provide a roadmap that enables boards and executives to plot their organizations’ course to value transformation. To recap, organizations cross four […]
Organizations cross four major “summits” to achieve the ACA’s Triple Aim of improving the patient experience, advancing population health and lowering the total cost of care, according to the Healthcare Care Financial Management Association (HFMA). Through its Value Project, HFMA worked with a diverse group of 35 hospitals and health systems to identify and detail […]
Two recent reports on hospital quality and growth in healthcare spending suggest that healthcare providers are making meaningful systemic changes that are improving the value of U.S. health care, according to a Healthcare Financial Management (HFMA) senior executive. The Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) reported a 17 percent decline in the rate […]
Medicare Shared Savings Program Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) would have three extra years before they could be punished for poor performance, according to a new proposal from CMS. The proposal is one of dozens of changes to rules governing ACOs that CMS wants to implement. ACOs are affiliations of doctors, hospitals and other providers […]
The Joint Commission’s newly released annual report on hospital quality shows hospitals continue to perform well on quality accountability measures. The report noted that Joint Commission-accredited hospitals achieved 97.6 percent composite accountability measure performance. Nearly 37 percent of the 3,300 Joint Commission hospitals were designated Top Performer on Key Quality Measures, an 11 percent […]