February 5, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
I was fascinated last month by a New York Times article I read about an initiative tying physician pay in New York City’s public hospitals to the outcomes measures those hospitals will be paid against under healthcare reform.
January 31, 2013 Gabriel Perna
news
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative, which will include more than 500 participating organizations. The initiative, linked to the Affordable Care Act, will have these organizations test how bundling payments for episodes of care can result in more coordinated care for beneficiaries and lower costs for Medicare.
January 29, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
Earlier this month, the Health Research Institute at PriceWaterhouseCoopers consulting firm released a new report, “Top health industry issues of 2013: Picking up the pace on health reform.” PWC’s John Edwards, director of the consulting firm’s healthcare advisory division, shares his perspectives on the most pressing challenges facing healthcare IT leaders right now. Here’s a hint: think data and information systems, not IT per se.
January 16, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
Visiting senior executives at the UPMC health system in Pittsburgh last week, some of the thoughts I’ve been having lately around what creates and advances a culture of innovation were validated and confirmed for me.
January 16, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
Kenneth Bertka, M.D. has been helping to lead his colleagues at Mercy Health Partners, and its parent health system, Catholic Health Partners, forward on data-driven population health management. A key lesson learned? Take everything one step at a time.
January 7, 2013 Mark Hagland
blog
It's so easy to go straight to quotes from classic movies, isn't it? On the other hand, this one from Bette Davis just seems to fit perfectly, right now: "Fasten your seat belts. It’s going to be a bumpy night!" But the uncertainly in Washington shouldn’t delay healthcare IT leaders' work building the new healthcare.
December 26, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
A recent industry survey highlighted the possibilities and pitfalls in creating ACOs, and the potentially scope-limiting factor of any collaborative's information technology resources in moving forward on accountable care delivery and financing
December 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
As I write this, President Barack Obama and Speaker of the House of Representatives John Boehner are involved in complex, perhaps rather tense, negotiations over the so-called fiscal cliff and what to do about federal taxes, revenues and programs. In the past couple of days, the news reports and rumors have changed almost hourly, with estimates of possible Medicare cuts to providers shifting quite frequently. Whatever the end result of this process, analytics-facilitated continuous clinical performance improvement will soon be crucial to provider survival.
December 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Earlier this month, Jane Metzger, principal researcher in the Waltham, Mass.-based Global Institute for Emerging Healthcare Practices within the Falls Church, Va.-based CSC, authored a new white paper, "Preparing for Accountable Care: Coordinated Care." With the healthcare delivery system facing unprecedented foundational challenges moving into the new environment of accountable, coordinated care, Metzger spoke recently with Mark Hagland about the reality of what providers face going forward.
December 7, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
The October issue of The American Journal of Managed Care included a fascinating article, "Implementation of EHR-Based Strategies to Improve outpatient CAD Care," in which a group of researchers documented how EHR-facilitated physician alerts alone aren’t enough to improve outcomes for patients with such chronic illnesses as coronary artery disease. It turns out, success requires a savvy combination of financial incentives, IT alerts, and good data analysis.
November 21, 2012 Gabriel Perna
news
Deloitte and the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA) recently conducted a study and found that for providers, life sciences companies, and payers there is clear correlation between return on investment (ROI) from clinical IT systems and high organizational support from health informatics. The organizations where respondents didn’t buy into the idea that health IT leads to significant ROI didn't have as strong organizational support, alignment, and executive sponsorship as those that did.
October 29, 2012 Ted Reynolds, Vice President, CTG Health Solutions
article
Organizations often purchase a system without understanding the true total cost of ownership (TCO). Everyone has financial pressures to operate their business as economically as possible, and frequently the mistake is made of asking for board approval with the lowest number possible.
