Healthcare M&A in the US reached $241B by May 2015, the highest year-to-date volume ever recorded. Healthcare providers are making these acquisitions to gain economies of scale; shift from volume-based to value-based care; address local market characteristics to remain competitive; better appeal to consumer wants and needs; and expand their digital health and ehealth capabilities, according to a new report from Accenture.
While this new wave of M&A growth expands a set of strategic
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Healthcare Policy Regulation & Reform | News, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
e-MDs Talks How to Get Your EHR & Practice Through the ICD-10 Transition
Are you ready for the ICD-10 transition? That’s the question most healthcare providers loathe, as the October 1st deadline nears and the potential for major problems and productivity loss grows. No one knows how many hiccups and headaches the more than 64,000 codes will create—but having the right products in place can help you prepare—according to E-MDs’ Mike Liter.
As Vice President of Account Management & Implementation at E-MDs, a leading provider in ambulatory electronic medical
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ICD-10 Readiness Survey: Only 43% of Providers Currently On Track
Only 43 percent of healthcare organizations feel they are currently on track with their preparation, according to key findings from Navicure's fourth ICD-10 readiness survey. Navicure and Porter Research deployed the survey in August 2015 as the fourth wave of a research study designed to trend attitudes and behavior regarding the transition to ICD-10. The survey finds that majority (85 percent) are still optimistic they will be ready when the transition happens, yet more than half of
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Cleveland Clinic Unveils $302M Expansion in Florida
On Monday, Cleveland Clinic announced a $302 million expansion plan for Cleveland Clinic Florida that will include capital improvements to its campus in Weston, and a new clinic and ambulatory surgery center in Coral Springs, Fla. In Weston, the expansion will include the addition of three operating suites and additional inpatient hospital beds, as well as expansion of the Emergency Department and imaging and laboratory facilities. General renovations and additional parking are
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Can A Patient Experience Survey Truly Measure the Doctor-Patient Relationship?
Can we infer from a highly scored experience survey that the patient has a useful relationship with her doctor? Not really.
Sixty years ago, before he became a controversial figure in the field of psychiatry, Dr. Thomas S. Szasz co-authored an article for the Archives of Internal Medicine (now JAMA Internal Medicine) on “The Basic Models of the Doctor-Patient Relationship”, which is well worth reading today, particularly for those who believe that patient empowerment/engagement is a novel and
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Health Plan Mergers: 5 Steps for Harvesting IT Integration Savings
Editor's Note: This post is written by Albert Ghafari, a founding partner and Bryan Komornik, a Senior Manager in the management consulting practice at Invoyent, a Chicago-based consulting firm dedicated to helping payer and software clients transform the healthcare industry by delivering clear, market-driven strategies that serve their customers and improve the lives of members.
The Aetna-Humana and Cigna-Anthem merger announcements represent a growing trend toward consolidation in
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athenahealth Updates Its Patient-Centered Medical Home Accelerator Program
athenahealth a provider of cloud-based EHR services and mobile applications for medical groups and health systems has announced updates to its Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Accelerator Program. Awarded an outstanding 35.25 automatic credits and 45.5 practice support points by the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA), athenahealth ® streamlines providers' pathway towards formal NCQA PCMH Recognition.
Practices using athenahealth's EHR, athenaClinicals ®, and patient
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5 Best Practices To Ensure A Smooth, Expedient ICD-10 Transition
The ICD-10 Compliance date is looming and it is imperative that healthcare providers be prepared to make the transition. It affects everything from claims processing, physicians’ workflow, and patients’ access to care. Many organizations may be rallying employees and resources in order to make the switch from the ICD-9 to the ICD-10 coding for medical diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures before the implementation date of October 1, 2015.
To make matters worse, the transition is not
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Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois to Launch New Value-based Care Model
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) has signed an agreement to launch an innovative new value-based care model with DuPage Medical Group (DMG), the largest independent physician practice in the Chicago area, with more than 425 doctors. Traditionally in a fee-for-service delivery model, reimbursement is based on specific services provided to patients; rewarding providers for the volume of services they provide. In value-based care, payment to providers is associated with meeting
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WEDI ICD-10 Survey Reveals Physician Practices Lagging Behind
While much of the industry is getting closer to ICD-10 readiness, only about 20 percent of physician practices have started or completed external testing and less than 50 percent responded that they were ready or would be ready for Oct. 1, according to recent Workgroup for Electronic Data Interchange (WEDI) industry preparedness survey results. In a letter sent to the Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary, WEDI shared findings from its June 2015 ICD-10 Industry Readiness Survey, strongly
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