Moshe Starkman, Senior Director, Value-based Reimbursements, nThrive
The first two years of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) Quality Payment Program (QPP) are in the books and many organizations are wondering if their strong performances will ever be met with a significant upside adjustment.
Year 1 (2017) enjoyed very high participation levels, 95% of eligible clinicians, but very low upside adjustments. Between the Test Pace option, artificially low bar
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How Tech Giants are Helping Providers Reinvent Patient Care
Alyssa Rapp, CEO of Surgical Solutions
Healthcare costs are on the rise, and they show no signs of leveling off. According to the latest data available from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, healthcare spending in the United States reached $3.5 trillion in 2017, or $10,739 per person. Those costs are projected to rise by about five percent year-over-year.
As expenditures continue to skyrocket, healthcare providers are looking to new technologies and care strategies that can help
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Maine Health, Anthem Form Joint Venture to Offer Medicare Advantage Plans
Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Maine and MaineHealth today announced the two organizations will be collaborating on a joint venture to offer Medicare Advantage health insurance plans for 2020 under the Anthem | MaineHealth brand. This joint venture effort, named AMH Health, LLC, will bring together the core strengths of the region’s leading health care system and health insurer, their brand recognition, as well as their expertise in providing a comprehensive approach to care that will
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Tufts Health Plan and Harvard Pilgrim Health Care to Merge
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan announced their intent to merge their nonprofit organizations. The new organization, yet to be named, will become one of the region’s largest nonprofit health services organizations and will serve close to 2.4 million members in Massachusetts, Maine, Connecticut, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Combined offerings include offering employer-sponsored plans; Medicare and Medicaid plans; Qualified Health Plans; and plans for those who are dually
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Why Real-Time Health Data Is a Requirement in Today’s Health System
Sara Radkiewicz, Head of Product, CarePort Health
Thanks to technological innovation in the industry and CMS’ push for interoperability, today there’s more patient health data being collected than ever before. The problem is that the data is either not easily accessible to providers or it’s claims based and therefore not timely. The lag time between the collection and sharing of health data makes it difficult, and in some cases impossible, for providers to get a complete picture of their
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6 Ways Hospitals Can Benefit From E-Procurement Portals
With regard to the increased complexity of healthcare procurement and the importance of sound supply chain control for ensuring a truly patient-centered approach, experts keep calling the hospitals to introduce advanced technologies for effective management of healthcare procurement and supplies.
Procurement portals, as one of those, already greatly add to the effectiveness of purchasing across various retail and manufacturing companies allowing for simplified and optimized management of
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Connecticut Launches State-Wide Hospital Quality Scorecard & Cost Estimator
The Connecticut Office of Health Strategy (OHS) has launched a state-wide online hospital quality scorecard and cost estimator solution called Healthcare CT to assist residents in making informed decisions concerning their healthcare among healthcare providers. The website has interactive tables and graphs that allow consumers to search, sort, and filter by entity, quality measure, health topic, and rating. In addition, the solution promotes cost transparency in healthcare improves access to
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PE Firm Backs Nation’s Largest Care Coordination Company ChartSpan
Blue Heron Capital, a growth private equity (PE) firm based in Richmond, Virginia has announced its investment in a Series A round of funding in ChartSpan, the largest healthcare managed service provider of chronic care management. The firm is part of a five-investor syndicate.Impact of Chronic Conditions on Patient Health OutcomesAn alarming 75% of Americans over the age of 65 live with multiple chronic conditions that require ongoing medical attention and often impact their ability to live
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State of the Patient Financial Experience in 2019: 6 Key Trends to Know
Waystar, a provider of cloud-based revenue cycle technology has released an industry survey examining today’s state of the patient financial experience. In the first half of 2019, Waystar surveyed 1,000 consumers about their last hospital encounter and their experience with the hospital business office. The study, "The Patient Financial Experience: Consumer Attitudes and Behavior," reveals that the biggest barriers to a positive patient financial experience are lack of understanding around
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4 Reasons Why Healthcare Executives Are Less Eager to Invest in Health IT
Stephanie Kovalick, Chief Strategy Officer at Sage Growth Partners
Hospital and health system C-suite executives recognize that technology will play a central role in helping their organizations meet quality and cost objectives. Yet that’s not necessarily translating to a market that’s more fruitful for health IT companies. In fact, if your healthcare system is taking a more conservative approach to health IT investments in 2019, it’s not alone.
A recent survey of 100 C-suite leaders
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