Value-Based Care

While speaking at the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations Spring 2016 Conference, Stephen Nuckolls, CEO of Coastal Carolina Quality Care, said that care coordinators have played an important role in his ACO to reach out to the patient and motivate them to become more engaged in their care. What makes a difference is showing the patient how much you care, he added.

In a series of video interviews, Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, president emeritus and senior fellow of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, discussed the lessons learned from the Aligning Forces for Quality initiative.

Medicare accountable care organizations have either not yet focused on mental illness or have been, for the most part, unsuccessful in early efforts to improve their management of it.

Maximizing the utility of technology platforms and making them meaningful to ensure quality cancer care was the underlying theme of Emerging Issues and Opportunities in Health Information Technology, a National Comprehensive Cancer Network Policy Summit, held June 27, 2016, in Washington, DC.

Many accountable care organizations are beginning to adopt various programs or strategies into their framework to increase patient access to behavioral health care, but several challenges remain.

Critics of the Hospital Compare "Star" ratings ask whether the failure to take patient wealth into account unfairly penalizes hospitals that care for larger numbers of poor patients.

As the healthcare industry moves from volume to value, new healthcare delivery models are being tested and promoted, and CMS has put a lot of faith into the accountable care organization. So has Aledade.

Analyzes whether hospital participation in accountable care organizations is associated with a hospital’s quality and cost improvement outcomes in other Medicare value-based payment programs.

The president predicts that in 20 years, the nation will look back on "Obamacare" as a moment of courage that has improved people's lives.

In the most recent Web-based session of The American Journal of Managed Care’s ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, speakers examined 3 practice transformation models.

Coverage from Patient-Centered Diabetes Care, April 7-8, 2016. Presented by The American Journal of Managed Care and Joslin Diabetes Center.

More than 58% of healthcare payers’ businesses have already shifted to full value-based reimbursement models, a 10% increase since 2014.

A new analysis by the Dartmouth Institute has found that Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) are making modest yet increasing gains when treating patients with comorbidities.

Carolinas HealthCare System created a behavioral health service line to drive transformation in value-based healthcare. Four projects are described, which demonstrate that modest investment in behavioral health pays dividends in reduced cost and increased quality and experience.

For 2 successive years, the Hackensack Alliance Accountable Care Organization achieved cost savings and maintained quality by using physicians with patient-centered medical homes and nurse care coordinators focused on high-risk patients.

An expert panel at The Community Oncology Conference: Innovation in Cancer Care, held in Orlando, Florida, April 13-15, 2016, provided insight on current transitions in healthcare reform, and their predictions for the future.

Many large, well-integrated medical groups with infrastructure to manage care effectively continue to receive a majority of revenue from fee-for-service and pay physicians based on productivity.

Poster presentations at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions compared canagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, to sitagliptin, a popular DPP-4 inhibitor, using claims data.

The new accountable care organization (ACO) benchmarking rule changes it so ACOs aren't just competing against themselves and transitions so ACOs have to be better than others in their region, Farzad Mostashari, MD, chief executive officer of Aledade, explained at the National Association of ACOs Spring 2016 Conference.

As the most advanced accountable care organization (ACO) model, Next Generation ACO has its appeal. However, it is the riskiest model, and one ACO explains why it decided to stay with the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

High costs associated with specialty pharmacy will necessitate the evolution of a new specialized model to help ensure that patients are receiving the financial assistance they need and adhering to their treatment, according to Steve Miller, MD, senior vice president and chief medical officer of Express Scripts.

Accountable care organizations have to work more on engaging physicians in meaningful leadership roles and should focus on learning about patient goals, said James Whitfill, MD, chief medical officer of Scottsdale Health Partners.