Value-Based Care

HHS has issued its final rule on the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA), which reforms the Medicare payment system as part of the shift to value-based care. Here are 5 things to know about the final rule.

Clinicians may at first be confused by new value-based care regulations, but there are resources to help them understand, said Kate Goodrich, MD, director of the Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in CMS.

Highlights of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare and mainstream press.

With 6 years under his belt, Patrick Conway, MD, is the longest serving chief medical officer in CMS history. During those 6 years, he has seen alignment with private payers increasing, Conway said during a plenary session at the fall meeting of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations.

CMS announced on Thursday that it would award $347 million in contracts to various hospital associations and quality improvement organizations as part of its ongoing effort to reduce hospital-acquired conditions and readmissions in the Medicare program. The Hospital Improvement and Innovation Network agreement sets high goals in hopes of continuing the progress that has already been made in patient safety.

During a session of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, panelists discuss the benefits of integrating behavioral health and the role accountable care organizations can play.

What we're reading, September 30, 2016: HHS prioritized payments to Obamacare insurers over the Treasury; the CDC is concerned flu vaccinations may be down; and UnitedHealth Group and University of California come together for new partnership.

During the fall meeting of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) in Washington, DC, speakers from the government and from various ACOs across the country shared their insights into the success and opportunities of these delivery models. Here are 5 takeaways from the NAACOS fall conference.

During the plenary session on the first day of the fall meeting of the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations, CMS' Sean Cavanaugh discussed the outcomes of the Medicare ACO programs and members of 2 successful ACOs joined him on stage to provide their input.

During the most recent web-based seminar of The American Journal of Managed Care’s ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, experts discussed a digital test that can help primary care physicians assess patients’ cognitive abilities and detect impairment sooner.

This article provides a detailed description of a Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organization (ACO)'s actions and results, to increase understanding of the challenges and opportunities facing ACOs-particularly those comprised of independent practices.

Accountable care organizations are becoming increasingly common in the United States, but they are more likely to be formed in regions of the country with populations that have a higher socioeconomic status.

The Medicare Shared Saving Program benchmark can be improved by following the example of Next Generation accountable care organizations, but with a larger adjustment level.

The authors’ survey of providers in a new accountable care organization reports that initial perceptions of this care model are ambivalent and vary among participating practices.

Highlights of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare press.

A private accountable care organization model with an embedded care coordinator and a list of recommended providers yields cost savings similar to initiatives with risk-based contracts.

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.