Week in Review: NJ, Cali Demos Beat the Health Care "Blues"

NJ, Cali Demos Beat the Health Care "Blues"
Thursday, December 12th
Dear Members & Friends:

There's plenty of action to report in medical home news this week! First, we saw some exciting results in New Jersey from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield's Patient Centered Medical Home Pilot. The pilot's sharp focus on wellness improved prevention screening rates among participants in six short months. In California, Anthem Blue Cross' Accountable Care Organizations reported major care quality gains within the program's first year.

In Capitol Hill news, today the Senate Finance Committee will vote on a promising "doc fix" legislation that could repeal the Medicare physician payment formula. If passed, the legislation would prevent a nearly 25% cut in Medicare physician payments, and calls for more investment in value-based payment models. Similar legislation passed unanimously in House Energy and Commerce back in July, and the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) recently downgraded the estimated cost of the changes by more than half. 

Finally, you're welcome to join us today from 1 - 2 PM ET for the second installment of our three-part cancer care webinar series: Working with Your Care Team During Treatment, led by Dr. Carmelita Escalante of the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

Sincerely,


Marci Nielsen, PhD, MPH
Chief Executive Officer
Quality Improvement on the Horizon: Latest Outcomes from NJ Pilot
New results from Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey's (HBCBSNJ) Patient-Centered Medical Home Pilot (PCMH) showed substantial increases in preventive screening rates among participants including a 33% increase in colorectal screenings and a 23% increase in breast cancer screenings. 

Horizon's six-month wellness initiative provided participants with educational materials and used incentives to encourage health and wellness screenings. Participants in the pilot also reported higher levels of patient satisfaction.

Access full article here.
Primary Care Team Work: New Database Reveals 100 Innovative Training Programs
As the market place shifts toward team-based models of care, the PCPCC's Education & Training Task Force created a free online database that identifies more than 100 innovators in interprofessional, team-based training programs. The database includes a range of programs from across the U.S., including academic medical centers, community health centers, integrated health systems, and universities.

Learn more from our press release or visit the database.
Welcome, New Executive Committee Member!

The Self-Management Alliance (SMA) promotes strategic collaboration among government, business, and nonprofit organizations to achieve the goal of making evidence-based self-management an integral part of health care in the United States by 2020. The National Council on Aging chairs the Alliance and provides the “backbone” infrastructure to plan, manage, and support the Alliance’s strategic agenda. 
(www.selfmanagementalliance.org)
Upcoming Events
Dec 12 -  Dec 19
Advanced Topics in PCMH: Mastering NCQA's Medical Home Recognition
December 12 | NCQA

Genetic Testing in Primary Care
December 12 | GPCI

PCPCC Cancer Care Webinar Series: Working with Care Teams During Treatment
December 12 | PCPCC

PCPCC Cancer Care Webinar Series: Working with Care Teams After Treatment
December 16 | PCPCC

Behavioral Health Special Interest Group: Conference Call
December 18 | PCPCC

For additional events, click here.
California ACOs Demonstrate Results
In another testament to the power of patient engagement and care coordination, Anthem Blue Cross' Accountable Care Organizations (ACO) substantially improved care quality measures in the program's first year. Result highlights include a 31.4 - 42.1% increase in mammograms and a 12.8 - 86.7% increase in appropriate prescribing of antibiotics for bronchitis treatment.

The four medical groups that participated in Anthem's ACO program provided enhanced coordinated care for more than 140,000 PPO members between 2011 and 2012.

Access full article here.
 
Health on the Hill: Senate Finance Gets its "Doc Fix"
Amid budget negotiations and Obamacare controversy, the Senate Finance Committee is scheduled to vote today on "doc fix" legislation that will repeal the current Medicare physician payment formula. The legislation would prevent a nearly 25% Medicare payment cut set to take place on January 1st, and calls for the introduction of alternative payment models, such as medical homes and Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). Similar legislation passed the House Energy and Commerce Committee unanimously in July.

On Friday, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) lowered its projection for the expense of repealing the current system from $300 billion to $116 billion over a decade.

Stay tuned to the Committee website for updates.
PCPCC's December 
Webinar Series
TODAY: Thursday Dec. 12 | 1:00PM - 2:00PM ET
Featured Speaker: Dr. Carmelita Escalante, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Working with Care Teams After Treatment
Monday Dec. 16 | 12:00PM - 1:00PM ET
Featured Speaker: Dr. Larissa Nekhlyudov, Harvard Medical School


In case you missed it (Dec 5th)... Check out the recording and slides from last week's webinar: "Working With Care Teams After Diagnosis," where Dr. Amy Shaw discussed the features of her “primary care oncology” practice.
Conference Season is Upon Us!

National Medical Home Summit
Co-Hosted with the Thomas Jefferson University School of Population Health
March 17 - 19, 2014 | Philadelphia, PA


PCPCC Western Regional Conference
In partnership with HealthTeamWorks and Colorado Academy of Family Physicians
June 9 - 10, 2014  l  Denver, CO
Facebook
Twitter
Website






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
Patient Centered Primary Care Collaborative · 601 Thirteenth Street, NW, Suite 430 North · Washington, DC 20005 · USA

Go to top