News
According to Donald Berwick in a recent Wall Street Journal article, “…the formula for ACO success is clear: keep quality high, save money by improving - not by restricting - care, and remain attractive to beneficiaries, who could go anywhere for care. That's an edgy and promising design. It will work because it is set up to reward the right combination of goals for our time: transparency, coordination, consumer power and intolerance of waste. Smart entrants, focused on seamless care, outcomes and beneficiary satisfaction, will both reduce Medicare's expenditures and reap financial rewards for themselves.”
The Healthcare Supply Chain Association (HSCA) launched a new web portal last week aimed at helping small medical device suppliers gain information about the healthcare group purchasing organization (GPO) contract process and aiding them with bringing their products to the marketplace.
With the pressure to increase net income intensifying, hospitals are finding new urgency in the old saying, “every dollar counts.” No longer can health systems focus their efforts solely on optimizing their largest sources of revenue and cost. Attention has now shifted to much smaller dollar amounts. One area to consider for opportunities for revenue enhancement and cost reduction is during physician practice acquisitions.
As the contentious debate surrounding an ICD-10 delay rages on, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) fueled the fire on April 9 when it indicated its intention to push the deadline back one year to Oct 1., 2014.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services last week gave tentative approval to provide $1.9 billion in initial funding to help Oregon overhaul its Medicaid system, which the state says has the potential to save $11 billion over 10 years.
Hospitals, physician practices and health plans across the country are boosting care -- and saving millions -- by employing quality measures, information technology and plenty of innovation. A new book tells the stories behind the successes.
As healthcare evolves, where do finance professionals fit in? Out front, helping to shape changes? Or more toward the back, ensuring the decisions of others all add up?
In early April, the National Quality Forum (NQF) approved for endorsement several sets of quality measures, addressing areas such as perinatal and renal care and how resources are put to use in care delivery.
Even with their own health improvement strategies in place, some states, such as Vermont and Minnesota, are already harnessing the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act to establish health insurance exchanges and to drive healthcare delivery and payment reforms to the extent that their legislatures enable them.
The term “unelected bureaucrats” has been bandied about in Congress when referring to a particularly loathsome provision - to some - of the Affordable Care Act: the Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB). The reference is to the 15 people who will serve on IPAB, all of whom are subject to Senate confirmation.