Building strong teams and creating a support system is important in implementing innovation in primary care, according to Alicia Berkemeyer, vice president of Enterprise Primary Care and Pharmacy Programs at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Building strong teams and creating a support system is important in implementing innovation in primary care, according to Alicia Berkemeyer, vice president of Enterprise Primary Care and Pharmacy Programs at Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield.
Transcript (slightly modified)
What are the challenges of rolling out innovations in primary care?
I think from a practice standpoint, they would tell you just the time has been a challenge and then also some of it is financial because it is very important for them to be able to receive payment in a different fashion these pay management fees for them to have the resources and the support to really build their teams. It’s important to have those teams built in those collaboratives to really have the strong team to make sure everyone is working to the top of their license and doing the appropriate level of outreach and care for the patients. So, I think it’s been very important for them to have that support.
It’s a challenge and it is hard work. It’s not like they can just say “I want to be a patient-centered medical home tomorrow"; it takes time. In reality—in our patient-centered medical home pilot that we did early on, and then also in the conference of primary care for the state of Arkansas—the first couple of years of a medical home, you are going to see your costs increase because you have more compliant patients, you’re having more follow-up care, you’re doing more of your wellness visits. It’s usually around year 3 or 4 that you start seeing the cost savings.
Increasing Lp(a) Awareness for Better Cardiovascular Health: Dr Mary McGowan
March 24th 2024For Lp(a) Awareness Day, Mary McGowan, MD, FNLA, chief medical officer of the Family Heart Foundation, highlights how most people with elevated Lp(a) are completely unaware that they have this increased risk and calls for increased testing.
Read More
Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
Listen
Kathy Oubre on Strategies to Mitigate Challenges When Adopting New Payment Models
February 23rd 2024While adopting new payment models can come with challenges, there are strategies that can help oncology practices optimize their approaches, said Kathy Oubre, MS, CEO of Pontchartrain Cancer Center.
Read More
Getting to Know Dr Shauna Downs, Public Health Nutritionist
February 23rd 2024Shauna Downs, PhD, MS, is an associate professor in the Department of Health Behavior, Society, and Policy at the Rutgers School of Public Health. A former figure skater, her research now focuses on interventions to promote healthy and sustainable food choices and exploring how our changing climate, food systems, diet, and nutrition are inextricably linked.
Read More