This week, the top stories in managed care include the largest healthcare fraud takedown, one successful accountable care organization imparted its secrets, and a report identifies pharmacy trends in the public health exchanges.
Hello, I’m Justin Gallagher, associate publisher of The American Journal of Managed Care. Welcome to This Week in Managed Care, from the Managed Markets News Network.
Healthcare Fraud Takedown
Last week, a nationwide sweep by the Department of Justice and HHS netted 301 arrests for healthcare fraud, involving $900 million in suspected false billings. The crackdown is the latest effort by the federal government to root out billing for services that never took place—or worse, for unnecessary treatments performed on unsuspecting patients.
As AJMC reported this week, the fight against healthcare fraud goes back nearly a decade, but it gained strength when the Justice Department and HHS were given $350 million under the Affordable Care Act. Key elements of the success in fighting fraud include:
Secret to ACO Success
Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, have been touted as the best way to deliver good care and produce savings. But how can ACOs know going in that their model will work?
In the current issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care, authors from the Hackensack Physician Hospital Alliance write that accreditation is a key to success. The Hackensack group featured a key entry requirement: all its physician practices had to be certified by the National Committee on Quality Assurance as Patient-Centered Medical Homes. The Hackensack ACO saved money for 2 successive years.
The authors wrote: “As a whole, the ACO had fewer hospital admissions, readmissions, and emergency department visits compared with a group of ACOs—these were major factors that reduced our expenses, as we focused on maintaining a high level of quality.”
Stephen Nuckolls, CEO of Coastal Carolina Quality Care, spoke with AJMC recently about the importance of getting physicians to buy into the ACO mission. Watch the interview.
Pharmacy Trends on ACA Exchanges
The recent Exchange Pulse report from Express Scripts reports 3 trends, based on the pharmacy benefits manager’s experience handling claims for 9 million patients on the nation’s insurance exchanges under the Affordable Care Act. The report looks at events that are having the biggest impact on year-over-year spending and prescription use. The 3 key trends are:
Nominate Emerging Leaders
This is the final week to nominate a rising star for the Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research Award. The prize was created in 2015 to recognize scholars at the beginning of their career who have the potential to make a lasting impact in the field.
Nominations are due July 11th. You can learn more here.
For all of us at the Managed Markets News Network, I’m Justin Gallagher. Thanks for joining us.
An Overview of Health Care and Pharmaceutical Trends, 2023-2024
April 19th 2024Douglas M. Long, BA, MBA, was featured as the keynote speaker on the closing day of The Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy 2024 annual meeting, with a session dedicated to surveying the health care and pharmaceutical trends of the last year.
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Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Real-World Study Reveals Key Insights Into DLBCL Treatment Patterns, Outcomes
April 18th 2024A recent study offers valuable insights into the characteristics, treatment patterns, and outcomes of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) in patients across different lines of therapy, providing a look into the landscape of DLBCL management.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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Collecting SDOH Data Can Assess Risk of Medical Nonadherence, Improve HEI and Star Ratings
April 18th 2024At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, a panel of presenters explored changes coming to Medicare that incorporate social determinants of health (SDOH) data to improve patient and health system outcomes.
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Gene and Cell Therapies Hold Potential—but How Can Payers Manage Their Costs?
April 18th 2024Presenters at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting discussed the current promise and future potential of gene and cell therapies, as well as payer management strategies for these costly treatments.
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