May 17, 2012 Susan Heichert, Mary Bear-Dukes, and Dawn Mitchell
article
Some hospitals and health systems are looking to extend their own EMR solutions to independent hospitals and clinics. The practice became possible with the relaxation of anti-kickback statutes in 2006, but the sense of urgency has heightened in today’s environment. In fact, some organizations are even implementing new EMR solutions internally while extending the same solution to private practices simultaneously.
May 15, 2012 Gabriel Perna
blog
Just like a conductor’s score brings together the pieces of an orchestra, information systems bring together the pieces of an accountable care organization (ACO). Many providers, like Banner Health, are beginning to learn that more proven clinical technologies included in an ACO make for a better “score.”
May 11, 2012 Gabriel Perna
article
In a two-part interview series, James McGee M.D., talks about the value of patient simulation tools for an ACO. In this part, he discusses what it will take to get widespread adoption for virtual patient programs, what are the challenges of the technology, and how does cost play into everything. Here are excerpts from that interview.
May 10, 2012
news
Hartford-based, Aetna is teaming with Banner Health Network (Phoenix) to include full technology support for population health management and patient services for more than 200,000 patients. There were will be support for the 50,000 Medicare fee-for-service patients covered under the Pioneer ACO shared savings program and members in Aetna’s ACO relationship with Banner Health Network.
May 7, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
In this podcast live from the HCI Executive Summit, Jeffrey Rose, M.D., vice president of clinical excellence, Informatics, Ascension Health, discusses how his 81-hospital integrated healthcare system, located in St. Louis, is moving forward with its CMS Pioneer ACO and other accountable care initiatives and what his organization has learned so far. This podcast was recorded after Dr. Rose's panel, "ACOs: Policy Strategic and IT Issues," a the Healthcare Informatics Executive Summit being held May 6 through the 8 at the World Center Marriott in Orlando. He was joined on this panel by colleagues Daniel Garrett, leader, Health Information Technology Practice, PriceWaterhouseCoopers; Sam VanNorman, director of business intelligence at Park Nicollet Health System; and Jeff Petry, vice president strategic initiatives, Premier Health Alliance.
May 3, 2012
news
The Advisory Board Company, a global consulting firm partnered with thousands of healthcare organizations, is awarding two hospitals and one health system for their work in delivering improved clinical outcomes at lower cost. The organizations did so through a focus on accountable care, which Advisory Board says promotes hospital-physician collaboration and leverages physician-level cost and quality performance data.
May 1, 2012 Mark Hagland
article
Even as the federal Medicare shared savings program for accountable care gets underway, private health insurers in some markets are moving ahead very quickly. Juan Davila of the San Francisco-based Blue Shield of California shares his insights on the strategic and strategic IT lessons already being learned.
April 30, 2012 John DeGaspari
blog
With the Affordable Care Act under scrutiny by the Supreme Court, I was interested in a piece of good news, reported by The New York Times over the weekend, that the growth in health spending has slowed substantially over the last few years. As noted in the article, healthcare spending grew by less than 4 percent nationally in 2009 and 2010, and its share of the gross domestic product held steady in 2010.
It’s a trend that caught some experts by surprise, and there are a few theories about what’s behind the leveling off of health spending.
April 20, 2012 Jennifer Prestigiacomo
article
In this podcast, Sam VanNorman, director of business intelligence at Park Nicollet Health System, discusses how his integrated healthcare system, located in St. Louis Park, Minnesota is moving forward as a CMS Pioneer ACO and what his organization has learned so far about accountable care and its data and information facilitation. This podcast gives a preview of the panel, ACOs: Policy Strategic and IT Issues, that Van Norman will be headlining at the Healthcare Informatics Executive Summit to be held May 6 through the 8 in Orlando.
April 16, 2012
news
The Altamonte, Fla.-based not-for-profit, integrated health care system, Adventist Health System has joined the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Partnership for Patients program with the Charlotte, N.C.-based Premier healthcare alliance, a nationwideattempt at improving the performance of hospitals. The Partnership for Patients will aim to reduce hospital-acquired conditions (HACs), and share the results with providers across the nation.
April 12, 2012
news
The American Medical Association (AMA) is pleased the latest Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), 27 in all, announced this week by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), will be physician-led. The physician advocacy association said it is also pleased five of the new groups will participate in the advanced payment model.
April 10, 2012
news
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced 27 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) for its Shared Savings Program, a part of the Affordable Care Act aimed at helping physicians, hospitals, and other health care providers work together in an effort to improve care for people with Medicare is off to a strong start.
