Providers

As a medium, the Internet neither helps nor harms in multiple sclerosis care - what matters is how clinicians and patients engage in that medium, according to Paul Wicks, PhD, vice president of innovation at PatientsLikeMe.

Although there have been significant advances in multiple sclerosis management, patient preferences need to be taken into account before choosing treatment, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Patients with multiple sclerosis want to be actively engaged in their treatment decisions, which will help their long-term health and medication adherence, according to speakers at the 2014 ACTRIMS-ECTRIMS Joint Meeting in Boston, Massachusetts.

Retail health insurance marketplaces, also known as exchanges, are on the cusp of dramatically changing the health insurance business, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT released a final rule for electronic health record certification that offers more flexibility for health information technology developers, providers, and consumers.

The heavily criticized Medicare two-midnights rule involving short inpatient stays has technically been in effect for the past year.

The Obama administration and state insurance commissioners are developing new standards to oversee narrow networks as consumers begin to express concerns of limited physician choice and unexpected out-of-network costs.

Pearson emphasized a coordination of care, between the primary care provider, the pharmacist, and payers, to improve patient care.

Dr Benner presented a program that helps providers improve medication adherence among their patients.

A framework for researchers, providers, payers, or public health bodies identifies when it is most critical to distinguish between "average" population and individual patient response.

There has been a sharp increase in the number of cancer patients at one hospital using MyChart, the online, interactive service that allows patients to view laboratory and radiology results, communicate with their healthcare providers, and more.

Paul N. Van de Water, senior fellow, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, suggests that controlling healthcare costs and spending is a complicated process - one in which no right answer exists.

The American Journal of Managed Care followed up the first meeting of its ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition with its first interactive conference call, which was open to all members. Anthony Slonim, MD, DrPH, a Coalition co-chair who on July 1 will become president and CEO at Renown Health in Reno, Nev., moderated the roundtable discussion.

A growing body of evidence is demonstrating how the benefits of Connected Care, electronic communication between patient and caregiver, are improving healthcare access and quality and reducing costs for payers-without passing through Congress.

Palm Beach ACO discusses the grassroots approach they took to becoming one of 29 ACOs to earn shared savings in the first performance year.

David Alain Wohl, MD, associate professor, division of infectious diseases, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, suggests that quality management of HIV has, for the most part, been self-regulated. He says that when it comes to HIV management, there is a lack of feedback or "quality improvement mechanisms" outside the managed care setting.

Starlin Haydon-Greatting, MS, BSPharm, claims that pharmacist education has changed; by furthering education and credentials, a pharmacist's role in the healthcare world can extend far beyond what were once thought to be the traditional roles of the pharmacist. Pharmacists' involvement in programs such as the Medication Therapy Management, for example, can have a positive impact on health management in general.

Josh Benner, PharmD, ScD, President and Founder of RxAnti, discusses a new program designed to help improve medication adherence through a better engagement of healthcare providers.

The American Journal of Accountable Care will be the media sponsor for a seminar set for March 27-28, 2014, at Innisbrook Golf and Spa Resort in Palm Harbor, Fla., sponsored by TripleAim ACO Consulting Group. TripleAim's mission for the event is to share how the 29 ACOs that experienced shared savings of $126 million in 2012 accomplished the task, and to guide newer ACOs to success.

The Obama administration is requiring health plans in Obamacare insurance marketplaces to include a more robust offering of care providers in 2015 after some early backlash over limited networks in the health care law's first year.

Criminals are stealing patient records to commit medical identity theft. And the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made the situation worse, according to a new report from privacy and information security research firm Ponemon Institute.

Nearly half of the organizations in the CMS' largest test of accountable care slowed Medicare spending, but just 29 of 114 ACOs saved enough to receive bonus payments, the agency said.

Moving healthcare reimbursement from fee-for-service to a system that rewards quality care is easier said than done, but tools are emerging to help the cause. Three expert commentators featured in the inaugural issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care examined the challenges providers face, as they are being ask to share risk under new contracts with accountable care organizations, or ACOs.

During a Merck Serono-sponsored satellite symposium at the 29th Annual European Committee for Treatment and Research in Multiple Sclerosis (ECTRIMS) conference, presenters shared research regarding patient engagement in treatment management for multiple sclerosis (MS). The presentation focused primarily on the relationship between patients with MS (PwMS) and their treating physicians.

In the final segment of the panel discussion, each panel member gave their final thoughts on the discussion topic.

After introducing panelists, Otis Brawley, MD, chief medical officer, American Cancer Society, David H. Finley, MD, FACS, national medical officer, Enterprise Affordability and Policy, Cigna Healthcare, Joy Larsen-Haidle, MS, genetic counselor, Hubert H. Humphrey Cancer Center, Ellen T. Matloff, MS, research scientist, Department of Genetics, director, Cancer Genetic Counseling, Yale Cancer Center and Rebecca Nagy, president, National Society of Genetic Counselors, moderator, Jan Berger MD, MJ, president & CEO, Health Intelligence Partners, editor-in-chief, The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, asked the panel to identify the current unmet needs and challenges in genetic testing.