Value-Based Care

As the United States progresses toward improving health and healthcare while lowering cost, the need for standardized, evidence-based measures becomes all the more important.

With various healthcare stakeholders having different wants and needs from the healthcare system, meetings that bring all parties together in one room are important, according to Suzanne F. Delbanco, executive director of Catalyst for Payment Reform, and keynote speaker at the spring live meeting of the ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition.

Analysis of publicly reported organizational characteristics, shared savings distribution plans, and early financial success of accountable care organizations in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

This editorial reviews the recently published study (AJMC April) by Gerrard et al, which analyzed the statistical prediction model of the Fitness Index Measure for hospital readmission in unilateral hip fractures.

A report from the Government Accountability Office has found that a program for hospitals serving poor and uninsured patients has created perverse incentives to prescribe more drugs and more expensive drugs, particularly in the area of cancer care.

Aledade, launched by former national coordinator for health information technology Farzard Mostashari, MD, is looking to expand its footprint throughout the United States to another 7 states in 2016.

With various accountable care organization models that cover a wide range of health coverage plans, organizations with multiple models need to create a common framework for each market to follow in order to manage them.

The approach for assessing hospital penalties under the Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program might need to be reconsidered in order to achieve the intended goal of the program.

Andrew Sussman, MD, president of MinuteClinic and senior vice president and associate chief medical officer of CVS Caremark, foresees a number of changes to come in terms of healthcare delivery in the US.

As clinical targets in more common malignancies emerge, testing and treatment options will increase. Balancing these choices with the high costs of new technology will be the challenge to ensure value in oncology care.

Picking the right measurements to assess improvement in medication management depends largely on the what group is being considered, said Woody Eisenberg, MD, senior vice president of performance measurement and strategic alliances for the Pharmacy Quality Alliance.

The potential of nurse practitioners is not being fully realized in primary care medical practices. Consequently, cost and quality gains are not being achieved.

Accountable care organizations can play a key role in building a Culture of Health in which every person in America can have the healthiest life possible.

This study examines the association between plan-level measures of health outcomes and medication adherence to assess the viability of adherence as a measure of plan performance.

Unlike ACOs or P4P, implementation of bundled payment for inpatient and post acute care in Medicare would modestly reduce geographic variation in spending.

Cigna and Providence-Swedish Health Alliance ACO in Western Washington recently launched a care collaboration initiative that will benefit more than 7100 individuals who are covered by a Cigna health plan.

When The American Journal of Managed Care's ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition met for the most recent Web-based session, the speakers discussed the importance of accountable care organizations as CMS moves forward with new reimbursement schemes and managing high-risk patients through coordinated care.

Two new changes to CMS' ACO Investment Model will help practices in rural areas gain more access to the benefits of accountable care organizations.

Among the 20 chronic conditions with the highest impact on the Medicare population, some have no quality measure, which limits Medicare's ability to pay for value.

Aledade, founded by Farzard Mostashari, MD, announced on Monday that it had raised $30 million to support its mission of partnering with independent primary care physicians to create accountable care organizations and further fuel the company's growth.

This week the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions was held in Boston with results on 2 cardiovascular outcomes trials for diabetes drugs, and FDA advisory panels voted in favor of 2 PCSK9 inhibitors.

As accountable care organizations (ACOs) work to deliver population health, patient satisfaction, and cost savings, the need to engage patients as partners in their own healthcare has never been greater. The ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition convened April 30-May 1, 2015, at the historic Hotel del Coronado in San Diego, California, to explore ways to make patients the starting points of healthcare, not just its recipients.

This manuscript describes a structural alternative that builds upon the vision of the ACO, positions it centrally in the healthcare experience, and overcomes current limitations in delivering care.

The authors describe a 3-step framework for how accountable care organizations (ACOs) can ensure that patients' needs, values, and preferences are incorporated into ACO governance decisions.

This paper illustrates how Medicare Advantage plans and accountable care organizations could benefit from adopting innovative care delivery models, and suggests policy changes to accelerate spread.