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.
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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.
By Dr. Gary Bevill & William Taunton – Initially a four-doctor practice, SAMA Healthcare Services is breaking ground in coordinated, patient-centered health care in rural El Dorado, Arkansas. Although SAMA doctors had known early on that this is how they wanted to practice medicine, they could do only so much until they got support from the Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) initiative of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation, an Affordable Care Act program. Dr. Gary Bevill and SAMA patient William Taunton recently talked about the initiative.
By Matt Fisher – A Shakespearean Tangle: The current state of medical data is very complicated. The amount of medical data being created is exploding all of the time. The explosion is being facilitated by the always increasing number of ways of creating it and a broadening array of people or entities how want access to it.
By Eric C. Schneider MD – Proposed mergers among four of the nation’s largest health insurance companies have drawn media and policy attention. Critics see higher premiums ahead as insurers no longer have to compete with one another. Advocates believe mergers can neutralize the price increases generated by a less visible merger.
By Michelle Schneider – Interoperability is one of those words that conjures up very different visuals for each of us. Paper cups attached by string, the WiFi router in your home, the towers and satellites that allow your text to be sent across the world in milliseconds, and the NASA space station, are all examples of interoperability.
By Matt Fisher – The annual OIG Work Plan was published on November 2nd. The Work Plan each year identifies what the Office of the Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services will review and provides insight into what the OIG contemplates as risk areas.
By William Hersh MD – One of my favorite events each year is the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) Annual Symposium. It is an excellent meeting that brings together presentation of new research, up-to-date summaries of progress in the field, and great social events.
By Lindy Benton – Single platform healthcare communications can now be the new normal for hospitals. While EHRs are a good fit for managing data, they often exclude factors pertaining to the administrative and financial operations of the hospital. EHRs are also limited when it comes to communication.