Health Care Delivery

Innovative care delivery programs intended to improve quality and reduce costs need sustainable business models in order to last beyond the end of grants or other methods of time-limited funding. RAND researchers take a look at methods Massachusetts health plans and accountable care organizations are using.

The Obama Administration says that Florida can receive $1 billion this year and $600 million next year to pay for uncompensated care in safety net hospitals. However, the administration made it clear that more funding awaits the state if Medicaid expansion reaches those up to 138% of the federal poverty line.

Consumers with chronic diseases face challenging trade-offs when choosing health coverage, especially when it comes to out-of-pocket drug costs.

The implementation of the Affordable Care Act and its resulting market turbulence has not created the operation challenges for payers that was expected, according to a report from athenahealth, Inc.

Although millions of Americans have gained health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, the Commonwealth Fund recently found that 31 million individuals were underinsured in 2014.

While there's been controversy around the drug discount program for some time, the Health Resources and Services Administration plans to release a "mega-guidance" that will address several aspects of the 340B program.

The authors discuss the success of the Pioneer ACO model and the Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, among others. They outline an agenda that includes engaging managed care stakeholders, so that both public and private payers are moving toward value-based payment.

Coverage of the 64th Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology.

Coverage from the 64th Scientific Sessions of the American College of Cardiology.

The most sweeping overhaul of Medicaid regulations since 2002 is due soon. So far there are few hints at what CMS may require states to do as they award managed care contracts in an effort to better coordinate care and control costs.

The article, published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, found that large urban hospitals that serve as a safety net for patients with lower socioeconomic status, are at a disadvantage due to factors outside of their control.

Although the uninsured rate among Americans between the ages of 50 and 64 years was already lower than the national average, the rate fell by nearly a third from December 2013 to December 2014, according to a study published by the AARP Public Policy Institute.

Risk factors associated with diabetic ketoacidosis typically do not change. Preventing DKA should focus on identification of those most at risk and educating them good self-care to avoid incidents.

The realm of cancer care remains a holdout in the movement toward value-based payment models, with implications for cost and health outcomes, according to authors of a new article in The American Journal of Managed Care. Authors from the Center for Health Policy at the Brookings Institution assert that new payment models can be adopted by all payer and provider types, with benefits over the traditional fee-for-service model.

Health insurance companies will be looking for consumers to pay more in 2016, according to Kim Holland, director for state affairs for Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, who called demands for lower premiums or monthly fees "unrealistic."

The findings in Diabetes Care served as early confirmation of what some had feared: a bifurcated Medicaid system will lead to an American of haves and have-nots in healthcare.

Although there has been improvement in the use of health information technology for care coordination, fewer than half of patient-centered medical homes routinely use computerized systems to identify patients seen in emergency departments or hospitals or to send care summary to other providers.