Value-Based Care

Physicians' effective use of electronic health records will play a critical role in the development of payment and delivery reforms, the country's new health information technology (IT) czar said in her first public comments.

There is a radical and bipartisan bill making its way to Congress that could change the future of Medicare.

David Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director, American College of Surgeons (ACS), says the 4 pillars are based on 100 years of setting standards for healthcare.

COA and ASCO are issuing a joint statement on payment reform in cancer care. The goal is to improve the lives of individuals with cancer, in part by developing and supporting payment systems based on evidence-based medicine and measures of quality and value in cancer care.

While some health systems, hospitals, and physician practices will choose to avoid forming an accountable care organization or adopting any other ACO-like model, they are still likely to face challenges around care coordination and collaboration as a result of consolidation in the healthcare industry.

The state's largest health network and largest health insurer have shown marked reductions or slower growth in the use of services as part of their three-year-old accountable-care organization, an encouraging sign as providers and payers try to reduce the cost of care.

Conference Coverage: Diabetes Innovation

We continue to see progress in improving the nation's healthcare system, and a key tool to helping achieve that goal is the increased use of electronic health records by the nation's doctors, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.

The combination of electronic medical record data and administrative data provides the fullest picture of patient health histories.

Peter B. Bach, MD, MAPP, director, Center for Health Policy and Outcomes, and attending physician, Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, says there are a couple of challenges with the accountable care organization (ACO) and patient centered medical home (PCMH) care models.

State governments have a unique opportunity to transform the current health care system into one that provides higher-quality care at lower costs.

Steven D. Shapiro, MD, executive vice president, chief medical and science officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says healthcare reform's biggest benefit is that it is leading care from a system that is volume based to one that is value based.

The health IT market is poised for strong growth.

January 2014 has arrived, and with that Affordable Care Act coverage begins. Over the next 12 months, the administration will thoroughly consider the ways in which it can control the rising costs of healthcare in the United States. This is especially true for the nation's Medicare program.

Starting in January, there will officially be an additional 123 accountable care organizations (ACOs) in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. As providers and hospitals transition to this emerging care model, there is mixed opinion over its longevity.

HHS announced the latest round of accountable care contracts in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, adding 123 additional ACOs and reaching about 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries.

Dr Peter Bach says professionals are looking at opportunities for new payment models and care redesign, but there are also threats that might surface. Each type of insurance payment model has different levels of risk factors. New payment models, such as the UHC pathways program and CMMI demo, have limited risk.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced Friday that it is seeking a second round of applicants to the Pioneer ACO Model. It is also soliciting suggestions for new accountable care organization models that encourage greater provider integration and financial accountability.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) might have their year in 2014, if recent survey findings are suggestive of future trends.

City of New Orleans Health Commissioner Dr. Karen DeSalvo has been named as HHS' new national coordinator for health information technology. She starts Jan. 13.

During the first eight months of this year, fewer than 18 percent of Medicare patients ended up back in the hospital within a month of discharge, the lowest rate in years, the government reported Friday.

David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director, American College of Surgeons (ACS), says their National Surgical Improvement Program is designed to help hospitals evaluate where they stand with certain complications, and to then help them through a series of techniques to improve the care around those complications.

PLAINSBORO, N.J. From leveraging their joint buying power to better deployment of a hard-to-find pediatric liver transplant surgeon, two large healthcare systems in Florida are seeing the benefits of sharing resources on a bigger scale, according to Kavita Patel, MD, of the Brookings Institution, and her co-authors who write in the inaugural issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care.