By Sara R. Collins & David Blumenthal MD – New estimates released this week by the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMS) show that annual growth in U.S. health care spending increased to 5.3 percent in 2014, up from 2.9 percent in 2013, after five consecutive years of historically low growth.
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By Elise Sweeney Anthony – The 2015 Edition final rule was released earlier this fall and ONC has continued to update the landing page for the final rule with new resources, charts, and fact sheets. Our goal is to provide, in one place, educational resources that inform a variety of stakeholders.
By Rohan Kulkarni – Growth in healthcare spending in the United States is slowing down, however it’s still growing and continues to outpace gross domestic product (GDP) spending by several points. Revolutionary trends are emerging for all healthcare service providers (i.e., payers, providers and pharmaceuticals), that will guarantee radical shifts in how these providers serve their patients, as well as how business process outsourcing (BPO)vendors serve their healthcare clients.
By Jonathan Catley – You’ve optimized your medical practice’s website, but your conversion rates haven’t budged. Look for the following causes of poor conversion rates to find the root of the problem.
By Karen Holzberger – While at RSNA15, a few major themes emerged around reducing silos and building collaboration between care teams. Here are three ways to accomplish this.
By John Halamka MD – It’s now December and as each year ends, I always look back on the challenges and achievements of the past 12 months. Here’s my sense of 2015.
By Dr. Patrick Conway – Almost a year ago, the Administration announced a vision for the future of the Medicare program, including clear goals and a timeline for shifting Medicare payments from volume to value. CMS is continually working to turn this vision into reality through annual rulemaking and the CMS Innovation Center, building on bipartisan ideas, initiatives and legislation from both Congress and the states.
By Robert Rowley MD – A recent study of healthcare organizations showed that most are not prepared to deliver standardized longitudinal care across multiple provider systems. Shared care plans will be the centerpiece of coordinated care delivery, incentivized by the move from fee-for-service to value-based care.
By William A. Hyman – A recent press release and report from AHRQ asserts that 87,000 lives and nearly $20 billion in costs have been saved as a result of safety improvements. This reduction in hospital-aquired conditions (HAC) is said to be “thanks in part to provisions of the Affordable Care Act”, and Medicare incentives.