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June 23, 2015 | FierceHealthPayer

Uninsured rate drops to 11.5 percent: CDC report notes significant gains among young people, minorities

With millions of Americans' health insurance in jeopardy as the Supreme Court weighs a case against a key provision of the Affordable Care Act, a newly released government survey indicates that the rate of uninsured Americans has dropped...

June 23, 2015 | Medscape

Nearly Half of Primary Care Doctors Unaware of ACA Pay Hikes

Five years after Congress passed the Affordable Care Act (ACA), almost half of primary care physicians are in the dark about pay raises the law bestowed on them, according to a new survey of these practitioners. That survey, conducted...

June 23, 2015 | HealthIT Analytics

Patient-Centered Medical Home Is a “Pragmatic” Shift in Care

Becoming a patient-centered medical home takes a great deal of hard work and a steady commitment to continual practice improvement. To achieve the coveted Level III NCQA recognition, providers must operate at peak performance, leveraging...

June 23, 2015 | The Boston Globe

Precarious future for primary care

SPRINGFIELD — Dr. Katie Jobbins rested her forehead in her hand, tapping her fingers rapidly as she waited for a crisis counselor on the other end of the phone to pick up. It was a busy spring day at the clinic on High Street, and one of...

June 22, 2015 | Fierce Healthcare

Clinical, patient engagement key to ACO success: National ACO Summit: Health coaches, navigators can also take leadership positions

Implementing an accountable care organization is nearly impossible without high-quality clinical engagement, according to a panel of healthcare leaders at Friday's sixth annual National ACO Summit in the District of Columbia. And that...

June 22, 2015 | Los Angeles Times

Health insurance giant Anthem presses for Cigna takeover at $54 billion

Health insurer Anthem Inc. pressed ahead with its pursuit of a $54-billion merger with Cigna Corp. despite a spurned bid and increasing concerns about industry consolidation. Joseph Swedish, Anthem's chief executive, went on the offensive...

June 22, 2015 | AAFP News

Population Health Approach Covers Socioeconomic Gaps in Care

Too often, the socioeconomic factors in a patient's life don't receive the attention they merit, and that is where the value of population health becomes clear. Many physician practices are beginning to address some often-neglected health...

June 22, 2015 | Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative

PCPCC Letter to the Senate Finance Committee on Improving Care for Medicare enrollees with Chronic Conditions

The Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative (PCPCC) submitted a letter to the Senate Finance Committee on June 22, 2015 in response to their request for stakeholder recommendations on policies that will lead to the improved health of...

June 22, 2015 | HealthIT Analytics

Patient-Centered Medical Homes Lag in HIT Care Coordination

One of the fundamental building blocks of the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) is the importance of keeping a close eye on care coordination as patients move between the primary care setting and the hospital, emergency department, or...

June 22, 2015 | Kaiser Health News

Obesity Trends Still On The Rise, But Intervention Is Possible, Study Finds

The U.S.’s high obesity rate and its relationship to other chronic diseases is not new information to most public health scientists and physicians, but a new analysis suggests that prevention strategies exist that could counter this trend...

June 21, 2015 | The Baltimore Sun

Adult dental coverage expanding slowly in Medicaid

NEW YORK At the Interfaith Dental Center in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, people with dental pain can walk into a ground floor office off Bedford Avenue and get treated without an appointment. They might have to wait in a packed waiting room....

June 20, 2015 | AAFP News

Speak Out on Draft Bill That Would Gut Critical Training Programs: House Appropriations Measure Zeroes Out NHSC Funding, Eliminates AHRQ

June 20, 2015 12:18 pm News Staff – The AAFP moved swiftly to rebuke House leaders for proposing drastic funding cuts in a draft appropriations bill (appropriations.house.gov) released this week by the House Appropriations Subcommittee on...

June 19, 2015 | Health Affairs Blog

Nature And Nurture: What’s Behind the Variation In Recent Medical Home Evaluations?

Recent evaluations of two regional medical home pilots (i.e., efforts to improve the capabilities and performance of primary care practices) within the Pennsylvania Chronic Care Initiative (PACCI) have produced differing results. In the ...

June 19, 2015 | FierceHealthPayer

In-home senior care program saved Medicare $25M: First year of Independence at Home Demonstration also improved care quality

A program that uses house calls to treat seniors with multiple chronic conditions saved Medicare $25 million in its first year, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced. The three-year program, called the...

June 19, 2015 | EurekAlert!

Internists give Senate recommendations to improve care for patients with chronic diseases: ACP also applauds leadership in addressing chronic diseases to advance a solution with input from physicians, physician organizations, patient advocates and other stakeholders

The American College of Physicians (ACP) letter in response to a May 22 Senate Finance Committee letter requesting recommendations and policies that will improve care for patients with chronic diseases. In a 19-page letter ACP President...

June 19, 2015 | Kaiser Health News

CBO Finds 19 Million Would Become Uninsured If Health Law Repealed

Repealing the federal health law would add an additional 19 million to the ranks of the uninsured in 2016 and increase the federal deficit over the next decade, the Congressional Budget Office said Friday. The report is the first time CBO...

June 18, 2015 | Fierce Healthcare

Community partnerships, health navigators crucial to engage patients: National ACO Summit: ACO leaders discuss successful strategies to improve patient engagement

Leaders of two accountable care organizations (ACOs) shared the strategies they use to actively engage patients and improve healthcare delivery and outcomes while reducing costs during Wednesday's preconference session of the sixth annual...

June 18, 2015 | Fierce Healthcare

How Kaiser Permanente encourages healthcare innovation: One of the largest health systems in the country shares its strategies to improve the Triple Aim

Innovation is more than a buzzword in an industry as volatile as healthcare. Kaiser Permanente, one of the country's largest health systems, is using "pull strategies" to attract people to new ideas, according to Benjamin K. Chu, M.D.,...

June 18, 2015 | Health Canal

Penn Author Calls for Better Primary Care for Medicaid Patients to Curb Unnecessary Emergency Room Visits: NEJM Perspective Piece Points to Patient-Centered Medical Homes as Possible Solution

PHILADELPHIA – Although a goal of Medicaid expansion under the Affordable Care Act was to provide Medicaid patients with a source of nonemergency care outside of hospital emergency departments (EDs), researchers suggest that these newly...

June 18, 2015

NEJM Authors Seek Solutions to Keep Medicaid Clients out of the Emergency Department

One promise of Medicaid expansion is the opportunity to keep those who previously lacked insurance from seeking routine care in the emergency room. In time that may happen, but in the short term it’s not always the case, as authors discuss...