Value-Based Care

In the past few years, efforts to lower costs and improve care have proliferated.

Having access to a computer and the Internet may seem like a basic commodity for most Americans, but for the economically challenged, this is not always the case.

Melanie Bella, director, Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, says the sole focus of the Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office is to increase coordination and access to services from many fronts.

The concept of the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) has received plenty of attention, but its foundation is built on understanding who will be the repeat customers. Finding the best yardstick to determine that is the subject of a study published this month by The American Journal of Managed Care.

While more than 35 million people worldwide are living with dementia, that number is expected to reach more that 115 million by 2050.

Access to affordable, quality healthcare for poor Americans varies dramatically among the states, according to a new study that found a wide disparity in measures of health between states with the best healthcare systems and those with the worst.

States are increasingly turning to insurance companies to provide coverage for people on Medicaid in hopes of saving money and improving care.

A new study suggests that primary care providers participating in an accountable care organization (ACO) and having greater engagement with patients transparency into the cost of services and procedures have the ability to bend the healthcare cost curve by an 8 to 1 margin in terms of return on investment (ROI).

As healthcare delivery evolves to be more efficient and cost-effective, health technology continues to show the biggest promise.

The ability to treat cancer in a growingly aging population is reaching a near crisis level in the healthcare community.

Medicine is unique in being the one profession that never teaches even its recruits how they, or the services they deliver, are paid and importantly, by whom.

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other coordinated care models present opportunities for improving quality as well as offering incentives that will drive lower-cost decision making among providers

Amitabh Chandra, PhD, says health reform affects patient-centered diabetes care through two different interventions.

Susan Dentzer, senior policy adviser, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, says there are many trends that are transforming today's health insurance marketplace.

Driving value-based care through incentives that reward lower-cost delivery measures showed promising results in a recent study.

Medicare may enjoy the fruits of the growing and varied work among private payers and providers to boost value in healthcare, though the benefits will come sooner to costs than quality, a study suggests.

Adhering to the best practices in cancer care may be the answer many oncologists have been looking for, at least according to one hospital's findings.

Bruce Feinberg, DO, Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, Cardinal Health Specialty Solutions, says cancer treatment is more than clinical guidelines, protocols, or individual drugs.

While the employer mandate delay and other stalls in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act have raised a few eyebrows, a recent report from the Kaiser Family Foundation brings forth some encouraging news.

Medicare accountable care organizations outnumber non-Medicare ACO contracts and make up more than half of the 488 ACOs nationwide, according to an August 2013 update from Leavitt Partners, a healthcare consultancy that follows ACO development.

Jan Berger, MD, MJ, President & CEO, Health Intelligence Partners, and editor-in-chief of The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, says that the availability of pharmacies nationwide presents a unique situation.

The role of data collection in Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) will be vital.

The health reform key is in, but the implementation ignition just won't start.

David Lansky, PhD, President & CEO, Pacific Business Group on Health, says that Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) must truly be accountable for the care they provide.

Data is key to making ACOs work. Armed with information, patients can alert doctors to potential problems early and prevent complications.

Robert Williams, MD, director, Deloitte, Consulting LLP, says physician integration is driven predominantly by the department of justice, and FTC regulations that require physicians to meet the definition of clinical integration.

Roger B. Fillingim, PhD, president of the American Pain Society is one advocate speaking out about the problem faced by patients who suffer from chronic pain, defined as being present for 3-months or more. But he's not the only expert who is talking about finding better ways to help people in pain.

Like their predecessors in health care's parade of acronyms -- HMOs and MCOs -- ACOs will need to balance quality patient care with saving money. When that balance is questioned by consumers and inevitably by the courts, how, exactly, will the risk be shared?

Preventive health services are key to ensuring people seek care before their conditions are critical or urgent in nature. As healthcare services for Medicaid and Medicare beneficiaries expand under the Affordable Care Act, so will the need for professionals who can administer certain preventive measures.