Accountable Care Organization, Healthcare Big Data, Healthcare Portal, and ACO Implementation Resources
FEATURED ARTICLES: ACO
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![Worried Physician]( "Providers Will Spend Nearly 33 Million Hours Complying With HIPAA Rules")
Providers Will Spend Nearly 33 Million Hours Complying With HIPAA RulesA notice released in the Federal Register by HHS’ Office for Civil Rights breaks down how long providers will spend complying with HIPAA security and privacy rules By Greg Bengel, contributing writer
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From Milk Crates To Mobile IT: Hospice Improves Access To Patient Records On The Go
Employees on the go know that handling documents in the field can be a difficult task – and perhaps no workforce knows this better than hospice caregivers. Hospice workers are road warriors who are constantly on the go to see patients in their homes, a job description that seemingly requires mobile technology.
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One Year Away: Time For ICD-10 Test Flights
Orville Wright designed, built, and tested the world’s first aircraft engine in six weeks. No manufacturers were willing to build Wright’s engine, so he built it himself. Four cylinders, 12 horses, and 200 pounds later, he placed the new engine into Flyer, the world’s first biplane. The rest is history. Likewise, the healthcare industry is fast approaching one of its greatest milestones — the transition to the ICD-10 code set. The move to ICD-10 signifies the largest financial system change since establishment of the Prospective Payment System (PPS) in 1983. However, unlike Mr. Wright, we have solid roadmaps to help build, design, and test our invention. By Wendy Coplan-Gould, RHIA, President, HRS and Elizabeth Stewart, RHIA, CCS, CRCA, Corporate Director of HIM, HRS
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Accountable Care Trends, Strategies, And Best Practices
This article provides advice on how private practices can merge health IT with payers, patient engagement, and liquid data to form accountable care organizations (ACOs).
- Providers Not Alone With Strong ICD-10 Opinions
- FDA Releases Final Medical Apps Guidelines
- Choose An EHR For Continuity Of Care
- EHNAC Releases ACO Accreditation Draft Criteria For Public Comments
- Final Countdown To HIPAA Rule Implementation Begins
- Loss Of Medicare Bonus Drive Healthcare System To Leave Pioneer ACO
CASE STUDIES & WHITE PAPERS
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Balancing The Scales: Selecting The Right EHR For The Life Of Your Practice And Your Patients
If we are at or approaching a technological tipping point in the history of healthcare, then it has never been more important for physician practices to select the right electronic health record (EHR) – and there are tangible reasons to believe so.
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Novant Health Reduces Transcription TAT From Days To Hours, Doubles MT Productivity
Novant Health’s 1,117 physicians, 13 hospitals, and 360 clinic locations serve more than 3.5 million patients from Northern Virginia to Georgia. Efficient, accurate capture and transfer of information from more than 1,500 dictating clinicians enables award-winning levels of quality and care.
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Is The U.S. Ahead Of The Connected Healthcare Curve?
In the United States, more patients can access their health records online than in many other countries. Does this mean that we are ahead of the connected healthcare curve? This study helps to shed some light on the subject.
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Managing Healthcare Data Within The Ecosystem While Reducing IT Costs And Complexities
At the 2011 conference, EMC's team of healthcare solution specialists spoke with several vendors and conferees and asked one question: "What is the best way to reduce costs and complexity in a healthcare IT infrastructure?" The overwhelming answer was to enable a cloud environment for patient data and to find a solution for managing so-called "big data."
FROM THE EDITOR'S DESK
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![Ken Congdon, Editor In Chief of Health IT Outcomes]( "The Problem With Consumerism In Healthcare")
The Problem With Consumerism In HealthcareMany industry leaders championed a free market approach to healthcare during the 12th Annual World Health Care Congress last week. Here are a few key reasons why I don’t think this model is “the fix” our industry so desperately needs.
ABOUT ACCOUNTABLE CARE ORGANIZATIONS (ACO)
An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) utilizes a payment and care delivery system that bases payments to providers on quality metrics and seeks to reduce the total cost of care for a certain population of patients. ACOs use a range of payment models and consist of groups of coordinated healthcare providers that provide care to groups of patients. ACOs are accountable to a third-party payer and the group of patients for the appropriateness, quality, and efficiency of the health services they provide.
In 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) set forth initial guidelines for ACOs to be created under the Medicare Shared Savings Program. These guidelines contained all necessary steps required for a physician, health care provider, or hospital to voluntarily participate in ACOs.
The quality measures used to evaluate an ACO's performance as defined by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) fall into five domains. These domains are patient/caregiver experience, care coordination, patient safety, preventative health, and at-risk population/frail elderly health.
The three stakeholders in an ACO are the providers, payers, and patients. Providers are a network of hospitals, physicians, and other healthcare professionals. The primary payer is the federal government, Medicare, but also includes other payers such as private insurances or employee-purchased insurance. The patient population of an ACO will primarily consist of Medicare beneficiaries, but in larger ACOs can also include those who are homeless and uninsured.
FEATURED NEWS
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ACOs Face Interoperability Barriers
According to a new report, a lack of out-of-network interoperability is the biggest obstacle facing ACOs today. By Katie Wike, contributing writer
ACO NEWS ARTICLES
- Upcoming Webinar: Data-Driven Care: The Key To Accountable Care Delivery From A Physician Group Perspective
- WEDI Releases Guide On HIPAA Transactions Requiring ICD-10 Codes
- Automated Quality Reporting Through EHRs Can Result In Significant Efficiencies And Care Improvements
- CMS Releases Updated Data On EHR Adoption
- West Florida ACO Chooses Sandlot Solutions As Partner In Patient Health Information Management