MedeAnalytics Posts Two-Minute Video Titled ‘Analysis Of Commercial, Medicare And NCQA ACO Disease Focus Areas'

Common disease focus areas hint at emerging best practices, possible future certification criteria

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, has posted a new video titled “Analysis of Commercial, Medicare and NCQA ACO Disease Focus Areas.” The two-minute video summarizes a subset of findings from MedeAnalytics’ groundbreaking market research report, “Analysis of Commercial, Medicare and NCQA Metrics,” released earlier this month and now available from MedeAnalytics’ Accountable Care Organization Resource Center.

Seven Prevalent Disease Focus Areas Identified
“Our research identified disease focus areas of ACOs based on interviews with payer and provider leaders, an extensive literature review, and analysis of relevant presentations at healthcare conferences,” said MedeAnalytics’ Director of Provider Solutions Michelle Marge, MSN, RN. “In evaluating over 300 ACO metrics, we noted the prevalence of seven categories: cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, respiratory disease, mental health, women’s health, and general health.”

For commercial ACOs, cardiovascular disease was the most common target area, followed by respiratory disease and general health. Similarly, for CMS, cardiovascular disease tied with diabetes as the top focus area. In contrast, for the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s ACO accreditation metrics, general health was the top target area, followed by diabetes and uniquely, mental health.

Key Report Findings:

• General Health (in the area of prevention) is the only common focus area among the top three across the commercial, CMS and NCQA sets of metrics.
• NCQA’s disease focus areas reflect a longer-term focus and possibly a desire to maintain certification metrics even as ACOs continue to evolve.
• NCQA’s set of metrics is the only one that emphasizes the need to evaluate mental health as a potential comorbidity cost factor.
• Commercial and CMS sets of metrics are focused on the highest-cost disease areas: cardiovascular, respiratory and diabetes.

Common Focus Areas Hint at Emerging Best Practices, Possible Future Certification Criteria
“The identification of common disease focus areas may provide an early indication of emerging best practices for ACOs,” added Ken Perez, MedeAnalytics’ director of healthcare policy and senior vice president of marketing. “In particular, NCQA’s longer-term focus is interesting, as it may give us a sense of future ACO certification metrics.”

Video Series Frames Issues for Busy Executives
MedeAnalytics’ “Two-Minute Drill” videos, supported by graphics illustrating key concepts, are designed to provide busy executives with useful insight into complicated issues. All videos in the series can be viewed at: http://www.medeanalytics.com/resources/videos. Videos in the series are supported by more detailed resources, including MedeAnalytics’ Medicare Insight Resource Center.

About MedeAnalytics
Founded in 1994, MedeAnalytics delivers performance management solutions across the healthcare system—including hospitals, physician practices and payers—to ensure accountability and improve financial, operational and clinical outcomes. For more information, visit www.medeanalytics.com.