AJMC® in the Press, March 17, 2017

An article from the recent issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care^® (AJAC^®) was summarized in an article on HealthPayerIntelligence.com. In “Creating Successful Alternative Payment Models,” authors Jennifer L. Wiler, MD, MBA; Harold D. Miller; and Nir Harish, MD, MBA, outlined 5 principles they believe will help guide the development of alternative payment models (APMs). For instance, one principle was that physicians should only be held accountable for the aspects of cost and quality they can control.

That AJAC^® study was also picked up by RevCycleIntelligence.com in a story that discussed ways the 5 principles could be put into action. In discussing the first principle that APMs should offer providers resources for high-value care delivery, it mentioned a successful asthma education program that was the subject of a study published in The American Journal of Managed Care^®. “Community-Based Asthma Education” found that a patient education initiative was associated with better asthma knowledge, decreased resource utilization, and improved quality of life.

Home Health Care News reported on the results of another recent AJAC^® study, “Use of Postacute Care After Discharge in Urban and Rural Hospitals.” As the Home Health Care News article explained, the study shows that “where a patient lives has a lot of influence over whether they receive inpatient or home health care after a hospital discharge.” Researchers found that rural patients were significantly less likely to receive postacute care at home, and suggested that this disparity could help explain geographic differences in Medicare spending nationwide.

A story on the local Mount Airy News website announced the results of an article in the March issue of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management™ (EBDM™) titled “Making Diabetes Self-Management Education Patient-Centered: Results From a North Carolina Program.” The study examined the success of a Diabetic Center of Excellence program in Mount Airy, North Carolina, that used an evidence-based approach “to optimize therapy and engage patients in order to improve program outcomes.” The Mount Airy News noted in its article that diabetes is the eighth-leading cause of death in Surry County, where Mount Airy is located.

Another new EDBM™ article, “A Bundle of Nudges: Healthcare Payment in an Era of Behavioral Science,” was discussed on RevCycleIntelligence.com. Mike Payne, MBA, MSci, explained in the EBDM™ piece that payers must develop new bundled payment models for technology-enabled, nudge-based care, which is being successfully used to improve chronic disease management. The RevCycleIntelligence article predicted that these programs would allow providers to “extend their reach outside of their office by using mHealth [mobile health] technologies that encourage patients to improve their own health outcomes through nudges.”