| In this issue |
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| Resource spotlight |
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March 29, 2012 |
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Webinar on managing the unique needs of different patient populations set for May 16 |
Register now for the next PLF webinar, "Managing the Unique Needs of Different Patient Populations," taking place Wednesday, May 16 beginning at 3 p.m. ET. This free, 90-minute webinar focuses on two unique approaches to the role of care coordination among different patient populations. The session will begin with an overview of Access DuPage, a program in DuPage County in Illinois that’s a collaborative effort by hundreds of individuals and organizations to provide access to medical services to the county’s low-income and medically uninsured residents. Richard Endress, President, DuPage Health Coalition, will discuss how this program is able to coordinate care through the use of medical homes for a patient population set with unique needs while at the same time containing costs. Rahul Koranne, MD, MBA, FACP, Medical Director, HealthEast Bethesda Hospital, will next discuss how Bethesda Hospital, a 145-bed not-for-profit freestanding long-term acute care hospital in St. Paul, Minn., cares for a large population of Medicare and Medicaid recipients and how they are able to effectively manage their care and reintegrate them back into the community by coordinating with local health care and social agencies. |
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Physician pay tied to patient volume |
As providers are increasingly being paid for the number of people they treat and how well they’re cared for, Harvard-affiliated hospitals Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women’s have begun offering their doctors more money if they agree to accept new patients. |
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CMS hosting webinar on initiative to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among nursing facility residents |
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Medicare-Medicaid Coordination Office and Innovation Center will hold a webinar on Tuesday, April 3 from 2-3 p.m. ET to provide an overview on a new initiative to reduce avoidable hospitalizations among nursing facility residents. This webinar will also discuss the application process and requirements for prospective participants. For more information, click here. Slides to be used for this webinar will be posted on this website by April 2. Following the webinar, a recording will be made available. |
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MGMA and the AHA to host innovation forum May 22-23 in Dallas |
The Medical Group Management Association – American College of Medical Practice Executives (MGMA-ACMPE) and the American Hospital Association (AHA), in collaboration with the law firm of Polsinelli Shughart PC, present the Forum on Innovation in Healthcare, taking place May 22-23, 2012 in Dallas, Texas. This program is ideally suited for physician leaders, hospital executives, and compliance counsel, and will focus on transparency as a tool to increase accountability across the health care continuum and as a driver of change in this new health care environment. For more information or to register for this program, click here. |
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New Stage 2 EHR rules raise the bar on requirements |
On March 7, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule defining Stage 2 of “meaningful use” of electronic health records (EHRs) and at the same time the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology released a proposal that sets certification criteria, standards and implementation specifications for EHR technology beginning in 2014. Taken together, these two regulations raise the bar on EHR adoption requirements that hospitals and physicians must meet under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) to continue to qualify for additional Medicare and Medicaid incentive payments that began in 2011 and to avoid significant payment penalties in 2015 and later years. The Stage 1 requirements are currently in place. The AHA is concerned that, taken together, the proposed requirements would raise the bar too high and risk widening the existing digital divide. CMS is proposing to increase the quality reporting requirements without first addressing problems currently experienced in using EHRs to generate quality data. The AHA is also concerned that the proposed rule would inappropriately accelerate the date by which hospitals must meet meaningful use to avoid payment penalties. The AHA is holding a series of 90-minute member calls to summarize the rules and answer members’ questions. To register for the calls, click here. Calls will be held as follows: - Monday, April 9, 2:00-3:30 p.m. ET: Physicians
- Tuesday, April 10, 12:30-2:00 p.m. ET: Quality Reporting
An in-depth analysis of the rules can be found in the March 21 AHA Regulatory Advisory. See “AHA Advisories” under “Advocacy Issues" at www.aha.org. Additional resources on meaningful use are in the “Health Information Technology” section under “Advocacy Issues” at www.aha.org. |
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Team-based care now on the curriculum at some medical schools |
Some medical schools are shifting their curriculum toward team-based care by offering interprofessional training, where medical students take a course with students from other degree programs such as nursing, pharmacy, and health administration. |
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Young doctors choosing hospital medicine over primary care |
Although medical schools are expanding and applications are up, more doctors are choosing hospital medicine instead of primary care, mostly due to the better pay and schedule it affords them. "Hospital medicine is the fastest growing specialty in American medical history," said Dr. Robert Wachter, chief of the division of hospital medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and the man credited with coining the term "hospitalist" in 1996. |
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New AHA publication provides insight into physician-hospital relationships |
A new report from the American Hospital Association (AHA) titled, Trends: Hospitals Strengthen Physician Ties to Gear Up for Delivery System Reform, offers insight into what the future holds for physician-hospital relationships and provides an analysis of physician-hospital employment and contractual arrangements. To learn more or to purchase this publication, click here. |
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