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CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule Blog – Part 2
Making the Economics Work for You
Chasing Stars: HealthEC’s Sita Kapoor Inspires Women in Healthcare IT
This month we celebrated International Women’s Day, a time set aside to honor immense and varied contributions of women made over the course of history and in contemporary society. HealthEC is proud of its female leaders in our organization who have gone above and beyond to drive healthcare and population health management (PHM) since its inception in 1997. Sita Kapoor, Chief Information Officer at HealthEC, winner of the 2021 CIO 100 Award, the 2021 Indian Achievement Award in Business Leadership, and 2019 winner of Health Data Management’s Most Powerful Women in Healthcare IT, has played a tremendous role in leading...
CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule Blog – Part 1
What are we really talking about?
CMS Regulation Impacts on MSSP and QPP
The Top 10 Changes ACOs Need to Know ACOs participating in shared savings programs face a number of opposing forces in 2021. From a decline in the number of Medicare beneficiaries to new CMS regulations to force downside risk sooner, ACOs are carefully weighing their options in the year ahead. In fact, the number of Accountable Care Organizations participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) dropped by 7.7% in 2021 as reported by Modern Healthcare. This nascent decline raises a red flag for everyone involved in the programs; MSSP and the Quality Payment Program ( QPP). Both programs are...
Chilmark Research Affirms that Community Connections Address SDoH
Addressing SDoH through Community Referrals A 2020 report from Chilmark Research highlights the impact of social determinants of health (SDoH) on the healthcare system and spotlights HealthEC as an effective solution in seamlessly connecting healthcare providers with community partners with significant reductions in unnecessary healthcare expenditures and dramatic improvement in patients’ overall health and well-being. Chilmark presented the findings during an industry webinar on December 20, 2020. Medical care is estimated to account for only 10-20% of the modifiable contributors to health outcomes for a population. Yet, data integration and collaboration between clinical providers and community partners remains the biggest...
How to Negotiate Value-Based Contracting in Healthcare
Negotiating value-based reimbursement & Value-based contracting is a complex process for healthcare providers. Organizations participating in value-based agreements need to consider the specific population covered under the contract, the particular reimbursement model used, and which quality and utilization measures will be tracked. And because each contract varies, negotiators rely on every available insight to truly understand where bonuses, cost savings and better patient outcomes for each population are possible.
CMS Boosts States’ SDOH Efforts: New Opportunities Focus on Medicaid and CHIP
State health officials received a much-needed New Year’s present on January 7, 2021 from CMS. Cash-strapped and resource-drained after nine months of a pandemic, states health officials welcomed the center’s tidings of guidance, funding, and services to better address social determinants of health (SDOH). The 51-page Medicaid Director’s letter from CMS provides leadership and guidance to drive the adoption of SDOH strategies, further improve beneficiary health outcomes, reduce health disparities, and lower overall costs in Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). CMS lays out programs, benefits and services that can more effectively improve population health and reduce the cost...
How Health IT Can Mitigate the Effects of Physician Burnout
Exhaustion. De-personalization. Lack of Efficacy. These three cardinal symptoms characterize physician burnout, as defined by the World Health Organization, and measurable by the Maslach Burnout InventoryTM developed by Christina Maslach and her colleagues at the University of San Francisco in the 1970s. Our nation’s clinicians have expressed burnout for several years due to personal and professional stressors. According to Medscape’s 2019 National Physician Burnout, Depression and Suicide Report, 44 percent of physicians reported feeling burned out. Another 15 percent reported some level of depression. Personal stressors due to family responsibilities, time pressure and lack of control are commonplace for everyone....
Prince George’s Health Alliance & Health Department Address SDOH, Improve Public Health
HealthEC customer Prince George’s Health Alliance was recently interviewed by Healthcare Innovation regarding their collaboration with the Prince George’s County Health Department. In a community-wide effort around social determinants of health (SDOH), the two organizations are working together to improve public health, reduce hospital visits and cut hospital charges per patient from $18,929 to only $8,699. In the article, representatives from both organizations share their strategies and tactics for effective public health management, especially during the pandemic. The four foundational components of their successful collaboration are: Implementation and shared use of a centralized population health technology platform Collaborative patient assessments,...