Jonathan Hirsch on Making Data Usable for Oncologists at the Point of Care
December 26th 2016Oncology care is often spread out across multiple facilities and providers, so health IT innovators use software to integrate data from these many locations and deliver it to the point of care, according to Jonathan Hirsch, founder and president of Syapse.
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Renee Murray on Camden Coalition's Relationships With Homeless Population
December 25th 2016When working with a homeless population, the Camden Coalition has learned that they need to establish open lines of communication, build a sense of trust, and follow through on their promises to patients, according to Renee Murray, associate clinical director of Care Management Initiatives at Camden Coalition. Often times these patients have more urgent priorities or may not believe that the Camden Coalition team is actually dedicated to working with them.
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Dr Sean Khozin Discusses How FDA Regulatory Process Helps Advance Precision Oncology
December 24th 2016FDA’s regulatory science activities are working to advance the field of precision oncology, in part by using predictive analyses to identify patients that may be good candidates for certain therapies, according to Sean Khozin, MD, MPH, senior medical officer at the FDA.
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Dr Stuart Goldberg on How to Collect Data in a Way That Makes Oncologic Sense
December 23rd 2016The kind of data oncologists need to move towards value-based care isn’t easily accessible in patient electronic health records, but new platforms like Cancer Outcomes Tracking and Analysis (COTA) are trying to make it easier, said Stuart Goldberg, MD, chief medical officer, COTA, John Theurer Cancer Center.
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Dr Anne Schmidt Discusses Reimbursing for Telemedicine
December 22nd 2016Until there is more data to support the outcomes of using telemedicine, payers will be more cautious about getting into reimbursing for the technology, said Anne Schmidt, MD, associate medical director at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama.
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Dr Eleanor Perfetto Expects Increased Patient Engagement and Transparency
December 20th 2016Patients will become more actively involved in their healthcare decision making as they become better informed, according to Eleanor Perfetto, PhD, senior vice president of strategic initiatives for the National Health Council. She also discussed the importance of providing transparency to patients so they fully understand their healthcare choices.
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Dr Joseph Alvarnas Discusses Clinical Risk in Value-Based Cancer Care
December 18th 2016The new era of data informatics tools can help providers and payers understand the tiers of risk that determine the economics of care delivery, which is crucial to value-based cancer treatment, according to Joseph Alvarnas, MD, of the City of Hope and editor-in-chief of Evidence-Based Oncology
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Dr Kate Goodrich Discusses Future of CMS Core Measures
December 17th 2016CMS must learn from implementation of new quality measure sets as it refines and expands the Core Quality Measure Collaborative, Kate Goodrich, MD, director of the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in CMS.
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Dr Fatima Cody Stanford Outlines the Lack of Policies for Obesity Treatment
December 16th 2016The general public and policy makers still still view obesity as a personal failing, which explains why there has been a lack of progress to develop policies for obesity treatment, said Fatima Cody Stanford, MD, MPH, MPA, FAAP, FTOS, of Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital.
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Jonathan Hirsch: How Syapse Uses Health IT to Implement Precision Medicine
December 15th 2016Implementing precision medicine is a complex undertaking that cannot be accomplished without the use of health IT tools, according to Jonathan Hirsch, founder and president of Syapse. He identified the 4 key functions of healthcare IT that allow Syapse to expand access to precision medicine.
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Dr Katherine Schneider on the Disappointments and Realities of MACRA Final Rule
December 14th 2016The Delaware Valley Accountable Care Organization (ACO) was disappointed to learn that under CMS’ Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) final rule, the practice would not be categorized as an advanced alternative payment model (APM) and would likely have less of an upside under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS), said Katherine Schneider, MD, president of the Delaware Valley ACO. However, Dr Schneider said she understands CMS’ point of view and why it needed to make changes to the final rule.
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Barry Russo on Quality Measures Data and Value Frameworks
December 13th 2016Barry Russo, CEO of The Center for Cancer & Blood Disorders, said that his practice continues to collect quality and claims data from a number of sources, even though it isn’t easy. Russo also said that payers are not particularly interested in participating in a value framework, instead choosing to focus on the oncology care model (OCM).
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Dr David Blumenthal on the Origins of "The Playbook"
December 12th 2016After realizing that improving care for the sickest, most expensive patients is crucial to a high-performing healthcare system, 5 philanthropic organizations joined forces to create “The Playbook: Better Care for People With Complex Needs,” said David Blumenthal, MD, MPP, president of The Commonwealth Fund.
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Allison Silvers Discusses How Innovative Funding Models Can Drive Demand for Palliative Care
December 11th 2016Innovative funding models like value-based payments can change providers’ incentives and drive them to seek solutions like palliative care, said Allison Silvers, vice president of payment and policy at the Center to Advance Palliative Care.
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Dr Harold L. Paz on How Value-Based Partnerships Can Improve Community Care Delivery
December 10th 2016Relationships with accountable care organizations and provider organizations can help payers join in a value-based, holistic approach to improving health within a community, said Harold L. Paz, MD, MS, executive vice president and chief medical officer at Aetna.
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Dr Jeffrey Brenner Discusses The National Center and Caring for Complex Patients
December 9th 2016Programs that care for complex patients lack a sustainable source of funding that provides structural flexibility, according to Jeffrey Brenner, MD, executive director of the Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers. He also mentioned that there had been no gatherings solely dedicated to caring for the most complex patients until The National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs’ Putting Care at the Center conference.
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Dr Ashish K. Jha Discusses Improvement of Bundled Payment Programs
December 7th 2016Bundled payments are an interesting experiment, but they should have more clinically relevant time periods and include more quality measures, said Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, the K.T. Li Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.
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Dr Roger Kathol: Treatment of a Mental Health Condition Is Essential
December 6th 2016Mental health treatment is a necessary prerequisite for effective treatment of the patient’s medical conditions, said Roger Kathol, MD, president of Cartesian Solutions, Inc., and adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota.
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Dr Robert Carlson Discusses Future of Immuno-Oncology, Importance of Patient Advocacy
December 5th 2016Immuno-oncology will be an important part of cancer care in the future, but probably not the only part, predicted Robert W. Carlson, MD, CEO of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. He also explained how patient advocacy and an enduring healthcare system are essential to the advancement of cancer care.
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Mike Payne on How Emerging Technology Can Empower Patients
December 2nd 2016In an increasingly tech-focused world, the use of phones, tablets, and computes, combined with social media sites, have allowed patients to find the emotional and social interactions they need when dealing with their care, said Mike Payne, MBA, MSci, chief healthcare development officer at Omada Health.
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Dr Leonard Fromer Discusses Precision Medicine in Oncology
November 30th 2016Cancer patients can now receive individually personalized treatment thanks to algorithms that account for their own unique factors, according to Leonard M. Fromer, MD, FAAFP, executive medical director of the Group Practice Forum.
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Dr Nellie Konnikov on Expanding Dermatology Access Via Telehealth
November 29th 2016Access to dermatology care is limited around the world, especially in remote areas, but the Veterans Affairs' teledermatology program aims to improve both access to and quality of dermatological care, said Nellie Konnikov, MD, professor and chief of dermatology at the Boston Department of Veterans Affairs.
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Dr Roger Kathol Discusses Health Outcomes of Treating Mental Illness
November 28th 2016Stabilizing and treating mental illnesses reduces the cost of treating associated medical problems, leading to a win-win situation, said Roger Kathol, MD, president of Cartesian Solutions, Inc., and adjunct professor of psychiatry at the University of Minnesota.
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Dr Andrei Gonzales Discusses Industry's Progress Toward Value-Based Reimbursement
November 27th 2016Payers and providers continue to make progress towards implementing value-based reimbursement, and while there is still work left to be done, experts are optimistic about a path to maturity, according to Andrei Gonzales, MD, McKesson's director of value-based reimbursement initiatives.
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Kim Eason Explains Horizon's Use of Bundled Payment Model for Oncology
November 26th 2016Oncology is a perfect fit for the bundled payment model, because it evaluates the outcomes, patient satisfaction, and cost of an oncology episode, said Kim Eason, manager at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of NJ. She said that Horizon adopted the bundled payment model early to cope with New Jersey’s rising healthcare costs.
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Dr Ashish K. Jha on Socioeconomic Status in CMS Star Ratings
November 26th 2016Accounting for socioeconomic status in risk adjustment can avoid penalizing hospitals with more low-income patients, according to Ashish K. Jha, MD, MPH, the K.T. Li Professor of Health Policy at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the director of the Harvard Global Health Institute.
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Dr Wen Dombrowski Underscores the Importance of Developing Health IT
November 25th 2016Wen Dombrowski, MD, MBA, Resonate Health LLC, said that it’s important to develop health information technologies because the lack thereof not only impacts the individual living with the condition, but the entire environment and community he or she may live in.
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