MIPS: Quality Measures – Let the Chooser Beware
By Jim Tate – For the 2017 MACRA & MIPS reporting year the greatest impact on an Eligible Clinician’s MIPS score will be the Quality Category. CMS provides the following instructions:
Read MoreHealthcare Revenue Cycle and Finance
Are You Ready for Revenue Cycle Consolidation? A 7 Point Checklist
By Sondra Akrin – As the pressure on top and bottom lines grows, many healthcare organizations are focusing on revenue integrity as a way to improve margins. Part of this effort requires lowering overhead costs by driving efficiencies into their revenue cycle operations.
Azure Cosmos DB & HL7® FHIR® – A Match Made in Heaven?
By Dr. Pawan Jindal – In a previous blog on HL7® FHIR® and MIPS, I reviewed the basics of FHIR and how it can be leveraged to design a robust reporting platform that can go way beyond supporting MIPS. The key differentiator of FHIR from any previous standards used in the healthcare is the portability of FHIR “resources”.
Tackling the Clinical Process Crisis
By Brita Hansen MD – The era of modern medicine has produced groundbreaking discoveries that have helped save countless lives. But despite their value to patient care, these discoveries also place a heavy burden on providers and their organizations.
MIPS 2018: Eligibility, Payment Adjustments, and Key Changes
By Anshu Jindal – The MACRA 2018 Final Rule for year-two of Quality Payment Program was released recently. Some changes were retained from the 2018 proposed rule, some were deferred till 2019, while in some cases the approach outlined in the 2017 Final Rule was adopted instead.
Back to the Future – CVS + AETNA
By David Barry – CVS’s acquisition of Aetna is a back to the future move. Decades ago, before the acronym PBM (Pharmacy Benefit Management), insurers contracted with individual pharmacies and offered members access to them at discounted rates. In so, the benefits (medical, dental, behavioral, and pharmacy) were packaged.
Millions Connected through Carequality Interoperability Framework
During The Sequoia Project’s Annual Meeting, one of its key initiatives, Carequality, reported tremendous growth since it became operational in July of 2016. To date, more than 1,000 hospitals, 25,000 clinics, and 580,000 health care providers are connected through the Carequality interoperability framework.
The CMS Measures Inventory Tool (CMIT)
By Kate Goodrich MD – CMS is actively working to move the needle on improving quality in healthcare without additional burden to those providers on the frontlines. CMS recently launched a new initiative, ‘Meaningful Measures,’ which will streamline current measure sets.
THSA Strengthens SECURETexas Privacy and Security Certification
The Texas Health Services Authority (THSA) is pleased to announce that it has strengthened its privacy and security certification program, known as SECURETexas, by partnering with multiple industry experts.