News Room

With much fanfare earlier this year, the Obama administration announced an aggressive goal to process half of all Medicare payments by the end of 2018 through alternative payment models as opposed to traditional fee-for-service (FFS)....
Rural Medicare patients have lower rates of follow-up care after discharge, an important safeguard against preventable readmissions and other complications, according to a new study published in Medical Care. Researchers, led by Matthew...
Increased collaboration between providers and payers is inevitable, but that doesn't mean the future financial interests of these oft-warring parties will align, healthcare leaders say. In fact, future financial negotiations may be...
Healthcare is an economic paradox. On one hand, it's our nation's fastest-growing employer, projected to add 15.6 million jobs by 2022. On the other, high costs coupled with an aging population are breaking budgets. The root of healthcare...
While lawmakers may agree enough on mental health reform issues to get a bill through Congress this session, the challenge of paying for it could still kill the effort. Several bipartisan bills introduced in the House and Senate address...
In 2005, while working in the commissioner’s office at the Maine Department of Labor, I received a phone call that I will never forget. The woman on the line was desperate to find a job and get off unemployment, telling me she was...
WASHINGTON, August 12, 2015 – Health care benefit cost increases at large employers are expected to hold steady in 2016, due in large part to changes employers are making to their benefit programs. At the same time, nearly half of large...
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) burst onto the health care scene in the past decade, full of promise as a way to help hospitals, physicians and other health care professionals reduce health care costs and improve patient outcomes....
“We don’t even speak the same language,” a primary care provider explained during an Integrated Behavioral Health/Primary Care team meeting. “So, it’s not surprising it took us a lot longer to learn how to work together than we anticipated...
Harm reduction centers that distribute needles and condoms in at-risk communities can help hospitals deliver person-centered care to vulnerable patient populations and ultimately reduce readmissions, according to a new report....
Although pharmaceutical costs are a key driver of healthcare costs, it's frequently assumed that's because of the high price of drugs, specialized treatments for complex diseases and unnecessary prescriptions. Yet studies have shown that...
August 07, 2015 02:54 pm Sheri Porter – New research published in the July/August 2015 issue of Annals of Family Medicine suggests that low-income patients with multiple health issues -- and staff members at primary care clinics where...
While the concept of medical homes has been around since the 1960s (see A New Approach for People with Complex Service Needs: The Behaviorally-Focused Medical Home), health homes (or specialty medical homes) are a relatively new creation...
Primary care providers' have mixed views when it comes to changes in healthcare delivery and payment, but many see health information technology as a positive disruption. Health IT received the most positive ratings from providers when it...
A majority of healthcare providers feel the use of metrics and financial penalties linked with patient outcomes harms the quality of care, according to a new report. As many as 50% of primary-care physicians, 40% of nurse practitioners,...
Members receiving care from a doctor who participates in a patient-centered program are scoring higher on quality care metrics – at a cost that is nine percent lower -- than those members at traditional doctor practices, according to the...
When Michael Kamins opened the letter from his insurer, he was enraged. His 20-year old son recently had been hospitalized twice with bipolar disorder and rescued from the brink of suicide, he said. Now, the insurer said he had improved...
Treatment for Mr. M’s advanced heart failure was no longer extending or improving his life. He was becoming increasingly short of breath and confused -and hospital stays provided only short-term relief. Mr. M’s cardiologist contacted Dr. P...
Across the country, many primary care clinics are changing how they do business. The practice of team-based care is catching on in Indianapolis, too.  Its advocates say the approach is good for patients -- and doctors.   When a patient...
Deals among the nation’s largest health insurers in recent weeks have been almost head-spinning. But whatever the details, if the combinations are finalized, the result will be an industry dominated by three colossal insurers. Consumer...

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