Value-based care initiatives matured in recent years thanks to exciting new technology and influential policy changes. But the coming decade will see transformative changes that will eventually lead to a uniform realization of value-based care across the entire healthcare continuum.
Specialty pharmacy represents one area of healthcare that is wholeheartedly welcoming a discussion about value. With the costs of six-figure specialty drugs and the number of patients using them continuing to
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Medicaid | Medicaid Patients | Medicaid Reform | Regulation, Policy, Analysis, Insights - HIT Consultant
What Does The CARES Act Mean for Hospitals and Health Systems?
As of today, the coronavirus has infected almost 2 million worldwide and caused the deaths of more than 125,000 people (Worldometer data as of 12:15 PM on April 14, 2020). In the United States, the relevant figures are more than 600,000 infected and north of 25,000 deceased. Without successful social distancing, those numbers could be dramatically worse.
And still, they are dwarfed by the massive numbers associated with the economic impact of the coronavirus and the illness it causes,
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Addressing Loneliness and Social Isolation in the Medicare Population
In recent years, the healthcare industry's understanding of social determinants of health (SDoH) and their impact on patient outcomes has grown dramatically. Researchers and practitioners now recognize that social isolation and loneliness fall under the SDOH umbrella. In response, many payers and providers are exploring initiatives to address social isolation among members and patients.
The health effects of social isolation and loneliness are costly and harmful. According to Health
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Deploying a Telehealth Strategy to Mitigate the Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic
Only weeks ago, American doctors’ waiting rooms were bustling with patients of all ages. This was no surprise as it is estimated that in an average year the U.S. healthcare system provided an estimated 278 office-based physician visits per 100 persons, for a total of approximately 883 million visits per year. Chronic conditions were the major reason for 37% of all office-based physician visits, and visits for chronic conditions were predictably higher among adults than children.
In the
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MassHealth Provides Free Telehealth Services for Women and Families During COVID-19 Pandemic
What You Should Know:
- Maven, the largest telemedicine provider for women’s and family health, announced a new partnership with MassHealth, the Massachusetts, Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.
- MassHealth will provide free telemedicine appointments for members with COVID-19 symptoms with Maven’s network of obstetric/gynecologists, maternal fetal medicine specialists, pediatricians, family physicians, and general practitioners for women and families in
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COVID-19 Pandemic: Prevent the Oncoming Medical Information Crisis
“You only know who is naked when the tide goes out,” Warren Buffett famously said of the nation’s businesses when markets tank. For the nation’s information systems, the opposite is true. You see their weaknesses when they are inundated by a tidal wave of data.
A case in point is the information infrastructure of the American healthcare system, which will play a critical role in understanding and battling the COVID-19 pandemic. Just as the capacity of some national health systems have been
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Charges for All Hospitalized COVID-19 Patients May Reach Up to $1.4 Trillion
What You
Should Know:
- FAIR Health brief finds the total costs for all hospitalized COVID-19 patients range from a low of $362 billion in charges and $139 billion in estimated allowed amounts to a high of $1.449 trillion in charges and $558 billion in estimated allowed amounts, depending on the incidence rate of the infection in the US population.
- The total average charge per COVID-19 patient requiring an inpatient stay is $73,300 and the total average estimated allowed amount per
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COVID-19’s Impact on Telehealth & HIPAA Regulations
The declaration of COVID19 as a pandemic and the United States declaring a national emergency to help contain and enhance treatment access have resulted in a number of changes to ease potential regulatory burdens or barriers in healthcare. Like so much happening as a result of the pandemic, the changes have the potential to fundamentally change the healthcare industry not just during the time of the emergency declaration.
Of particular note are coordinated announcements from various agencies
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Vivify Health Launches COVID-19 Screening, Self-Isolation and Monitoring Pathways
What You Need to Know:
- Vivify Health has announced that availability today of new COVID-19 Screening, Self-Isolation and Monitoring Pathways for Vivify+Go mobile solution to providers at non-cost.
- This enables low-risk patients or those with mild symptoms to use their mobile devices to self-screen for COVID-19 by answering a series of questions that follow the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines.
- The self-screening helps providers scale their
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6 Coronavirus (COVID-19) Considerations for Telehealth Providers
As the novel coronavirus outbreak continues, the federal government and commercial health insurers have taken significant steps to increase Americans’ access to treatment and testing. In the past week, the federal government and private insurers have issued a number of guidance documents expanding coverage and payment requirements in an effort to minimize the spread of the virus.
As with any changes in coverage and reimbursement, healthcare providers offering telehealth services should
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