March 14, 2013 Barbara Miller
article
For some medical practices, particularly those in rural areas, the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is a pipe dream. A progressive concept, PCMHs are designed to bring teams of clinicians together who organize care around patients and track outcomes over time. This model is easier said than done, however, and poses some formidable operational and technical challenges for providers who comfortably operate in the fee-for-service reimbursement environment or are just coming up to speed with electronic health records (EHRs) and other health information technologies (HIT). But for every challenge there is an opportunity, a concept that leaders from Otsego Memorial Hospital (OMH), a fully accredited 46-bed acute care facility and 34-bed long-term care facility in Gaylord, Mich., know all too well.
February 27, 2013 Gabriel Perna
blog
Those of us who have watched a loved one spend the last few years of their life in a nursing home know the pain and helplessness that comes from this experience. Studies have found communication breakdowns between staff can lead to lower quality-of-care. According to a University of Missouri researcher, the possible solution to this problem? Healthcare technology adoption
January 28, 2013 Mark Hagland
article
The Louisiana Public Health Institute, the animating organization behind the Crescent City Beacon Community, has leveraged the power of EHRs to facilitate a metropolitan area-wide patient-centered model of care.
January 17, 2013 Rajiv Leventhal
news
The National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) has launched a credential program—Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) Content Expert Certification—that gives individuals a way to demonstrate their knowledge of the NCQA PCMH recognition program, an innovative program for improving primary care.
December 18, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
More broadly, the shift towards a new population health-based focus, and towards authentic care management, is requiring not only bridges across the divide between care locations, but also intensive work to develop care delivery and management models healthcare system-wide. It goes without saying that this is difficult work; yet the leaders at many pioneering organizations are powering ahead, forging new paths without waiting for anyone to direct them to the new healthcare. And of course, they’re building new information systems and IT capabilities to support their innovations.
August 23, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
As technology becomes more pervasive in healthcare, examples of how it is being used effectively to improve care are cropping up everywhere. I came across one example yesterday, during a conference call regarding the announcement by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services regarding the selection of primary care practices to participate in the agency’s Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative.
August 22, 2012 John DeGaspari
article
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on Aug. 22 announced a roster of 500 primary care practices in seven regions that will participate in its Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, a public-private partnership to strengthen primary care. The initiative includes participation by CMS, state Medicaid agencies, commercial health plans, self-insured businesses, and primary care providers.
August 22, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
After a win with the Atlantic City Special Care Center, the Cambridge Mass.-based Iora Health is replicating its care model of intensive primary care management services, aligned incentives, and actionable analytics, across the country. Iora Health's guiding principle is to target the small group of patients who generate the most healthcare costs, and treat them using a global budget, rather than fee-for-service infrastructure.
August 3, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
This week was a big one for healthcare in my home state of Massachusetts. Along with announcing the creation of a statewide HIE from CMS funds (making them the first state in the nation to receive federal funding participation approval through CMS to create a HIE), lawmakers from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts passed another landmark bill. Appropriately named the Health Care Cost Control Bill (HCCB), it has a goal of cutting healthcare costs by $200 billion by 2028 by implementing a spending limit.
July 25, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
At the Healthcare Financial Management Association ANI annual conference last month in Las Vegas, I heard a presentation by Randall Gehle, D.O., about his involvement with helping his medical group make the transition to the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model. He described the transition process, some of its challenges, and how it has had an impact on his family medicine practice.
July 23, 2012 Mark Hagland
blog
A little-known study published earlier this year in an academic medical journal offers tantalizing clues as to what elements in care delivery can actually lower patient mortality over time. Is it time to work forward to improve care delivery in physician offices?
July 20, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
blog
A huge part of putting the patient at the center of care, and which will be integral in creating patient-centered medical homes and accountable care organizations, is really investing in social media. Healthcare organizations can test the social media waters by piloting strategies on their own employees before deploying them to their patients.
