Value-Based Care

The top stories in managed care include a recap of Patient-Centered Diabetes Care, the case for the Oncology Medical Home, UnitedHealth leaves Affordable Care Act exchanges in 2 states, and CMS expands alternative payment model for primary care.

In 2012, electronic health record use and participation in accountable care organization or patient-centered medical home initiatives were associated with performing care processes expected to improve healthcare outcomes.

Everyone in healthcare is currently grappling with what payment reform will look like in the coming years, and oncology is no exception. Payers, providers, and health policy experts reviewed ongoing changes in the healthcare system and shared their vision on what the future would look like.

In preparation for the Spring Live Meeting of the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, 2 speakers who will be at the meeting will participate in 2 30-minute tweetchats.

This week in managed care, the top stories included new data on statin prescriptions, a trial found the PCSK9 inhibitor Repatha successfully lowered cholesterol, but an editorial said the price might be too high to be worth it, and Farzad Mostashari, MD, discussed care transformation.

It looks like 2016 is shaping up to be the most pivotal year in healthcare policy in a long time.

There is a need for a new stop loss formula that ensures a level playing field and motivates accountable care organizations.

Anthony D. Slonim, MD, DrPH, president and chief executive officer for Renown Health and chair of The American Journal of Managed Care (AJMC)’s ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, spoke to AJMC about what it means to be a physician leader, the industry’s move to population health, the ACO Coalition, and more.

Population health, healthcare value, innovations in healthcare, cost of care-these were just some of the topics discussed at the meeting.

The shared savings payments were for specialists in hip and knee replacements, knee arthroscopy, and pregnancy. These areas have been among CMS' top targets for savings, while New Jersey has been focused on reducing its high rate of C-sections.

A collaboration led by CMS and America’s Health Insurance Plans released 7 core sets of quality measures created to reduce complexity, decrease cost burden, and ensure high-quality care.

While the pace of payment reform is moving quickly, Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, deputy administrator for innovation and quality and chief medical officer at CMS, said he thinks about how to maintain that pace.

CMS has proposed changes to accountable care organizations benchmarks in the Medicare Shared Savings Program, as well as a way to better facilitate the transition to performance-based risk.

Accountable primary care is essential in lowering healthcare costs as a whole and making it care more accessible to patients. Debbie Zimmerman, MD, chief medical officer of Lumeris, discussed how to improve primary care and get primary care physicians aligned with the delivery of accountable care.

For the second year, Anthony D. Slonim, MD, DrPH, is in the running for Modern Healthcare’s 50 Most Influential Physician Executives and Leaders. Recently, he discussed what it means to be a physician leader, the industry’s move to population health, and more.

The profile of high-cost patients in a Massachusetts ACO differed greatly, depending on their enrollment in Medicare, Medicaid, or a commercial plan.

Farzad Mostashari, MD, co-founder and CEO of Aledade, discusses the benefits of Aledade’s technology, combined with its strategies and analytics, and how these tools are implemented among the practices with which Aledade is working.

All this week, the healthcare industry, especially analysts and investors, focused their attention on presentations by CEOs and CFOs at the 34th annual JP Morgan Healthcare Conference.

Medicare's accountable care organization (ACO) initiatives now include a total of 477 participants across 4 different model types, including the 21 just announced as part of the new Next Generation ACO Model.

The most read articles from The American Journal of Accountable Care explore the future of healthcare delivery as the United States moves to value-based care.

Mobile health clinics represent promising vehicles through which high quality, cost-effective care can be delivered to patients, especially in underserved areas.

Considerable attention has been devoted to managing populations around the value proposition. Children, as a population, have received little attention in the accountable care organization (ACO) realm. This manuscript contrasts some of the similarities and differences between adult and pediatric ACOs.

For several reasons, including meeting the HHS Secretary’s Medicare quality and value payment goals, the ACO program needs to reformed to equate with Medicare Advantage.

Initial adoption of clinical pathways grew from payers mandating their use with individual providers, but there is now greater interest from accountable care organizations and others to use pathways to reduce variation and cost while improving outcomes, explained Robert Dubois, MD, PhD, chief science officer and executive vice president of the National Pharmaceutical Council.

The future of medicine will be creating partnerships with other providers and other healthcare organizations that are like-minded and looking to enter into value-based modes of care to create networks taht aren't narrow but are coordinated and high performing, said Farzad Mostashari, MD, former National Coordinator of Health Information Technology and co-founder and chief executive officer of Aledade.