Study: Physician practices spend $15.4 billion annually to report quality measures
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Physician practices each week spend more than 15 hours per physician to track and report quality measures for Medicare, Medicaid and private health insurers at an estimated cost of at least $15.4 billion a year, according to a survey reported in Health Affairs. The most time – 12.5 hours per week – was spent entering information into medical records solely for quality reporting, the 2014-2015 survey found. Eight in 10 primary care, cardiology, orthopedic and multi-specialty practices reported spending more effort on quality measures than three years ago, nearly half reported significant burden due to multiple similar measures, and only 27 percent thought that current measures were representative of care quality. The authors said the findings suggest the need to prioritize „efforts to reduce the number of measures and standardize their use across external entities.” In recently submitted comments, the American Hospital Association urged the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to ensure that quality measures for the upcoming Merit-Based Incentive Payment System and alternative payment models for physicians align with national priorities for the entire health care system.
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CDC issues final opioid prescribing guidelines for adults with chronic pain
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The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has finalized its guidance for primary care physicians prescribing opioids to adults for chronic pain in outpatient settings. The voluntary guidelines summarize scientific knowledge about the effectiveness and risks of long-term opioid therapy, and provide recommendations for when to initiate or continue opioids for chronic pain; opioid selection, dosage, duration, follow-up and discontinuation; and assessing risk and addressing harms of opioid use. They do not apply to cancer, palliative or end-of-life care. „Too many families have experienced devastating loss due to a loved one’s addiction to opioids,” said American Hospital Association (AHA) President and CEO Rick Pollack. „That’s why the need for sound clinical guidance is urgent and we appreciate the CDC’s leadership on this critical public health issue. The more we can do at every turn to help patients with safe, effective pain management – which could include the proper use of opioids – the better we can stem the tide of the opioid abuse epidemic. The AHA strongly supports this new guidance and will share it with all hospitals to ensure appropriate strategies are used to help manage pain and minimize the risk of addiction.”
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CMS creates ICD-10 assessment toolkit for health care providers
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released a toolkit to help health care providers track and respond to certain ICD-10 performance indicators to improve productivity and cash flow. Health care claims must include ICD-10 codes for medical diagnoses and inpatient hospital procedures under a final rule that took effect Oct. 1. For more information, visit www.aha.org and www.cms.gov.
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APIC issues free resource to prevent CLABSI
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The Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) has released a comprehensive update to the Guide to Preventing Central Line-Associated Bloodstream Infections, now available free for download.
The new APIC Implementation Guide outlines practices that are core to CLABSI prevention efforts, demonstrates application through associated tools and resources, and provides information that augments existing evidence-based guidelines.
It also helps facilitate the learning and implementation of basic concepts and provide both the novice and experienced infection preventionist with the opportunity to objectively evaluate current practice within the framework of continuous improvement.
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Joint Commission releases Sentinel Event Alert on preventing suicide in health care settings
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The Joint Commission has issued a new Sentinel Event Alert for health care providers to prevent suicide in health care settings. The alert aims to help providers better identify and treat individuals with suicide ideation. The alert also provides screening, risk assessment, safety, treatment, discharge and follow-up care recommendations for at-risk individuals. To learn more, click here.
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AHA and AMGA Learning Fellowship: Creating Clinically Integrated Health System-based Medical Groups
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The AHA’s Physician Leadership Forum is collaborating with AMGA to create an opportunity for members to participate in a learning fellowship on managing population health and succeeding in the new physician payment models that take effect in 2019. The call for participation is available at www.ahaphysicianforum.org/fellowship.
The AHA-AMGA Learning Fellowship is a comprehensive program that addresses critical success factors such as leadership, culture, structure, execution, alignment, reimbursement, and physician compensation. Working together, we will provide participating organizations and their employed physicians with the skills and information to move from a traditional hospital-owned/employed model to a more organized, integrated system of care delivery for the purpose of managing population health. The fellowship will begin in July 2016 and end in October 2017. Submissions are due April 8, 2016.
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AHRQ releases TeamSTEPPS training for office-based care settings
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The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has released TeamSTEPPS for Office-Based Care, a version of the evidence-based program aimed at optimizing the use of evidence, information, people and resources to achieve the best outcomes for patients in settings such as primary, specialty and pediatric care offices, patient-centered medical homes and walk-in clinics. The AHA’s Health Research & Educational Trust affiliate coordinates TeamSTEPPS training centers and an annual national conference, and develops free TeamSTEPPS materials for provider use, including this version for Office-Based Care, under a contract with AHRQ.
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Register now for ASA’s Perioperative Surgical Home Summit, June 24-26 in Chicago
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On June 24-26, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) will hold their Annual Perioperative Surgical Home (PSH) Summit. Featuring world-renowned speakers and a vibrant host of participants, the summit is a comprehensive educational program designed to prepare physician leaders for a rapidly approaching health care paradigm that will emphasize quality and value.
At the heart of the summit’s educational programming is the transformation of surgical care by improving quality, lowering costs and increasing patient and provider satisfaction.
Through lectures, panel discussions and roundtable sessions, attendees will receive instruction on the conceptual framework of the PSH and practical, real-world guidance on implementation of this innovative model at their own institutions.
Learn more about the Summit and make plans to attend this unique and valuable educational event.
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Apply now for AHA’s Health Care Transformation Fellowship
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The AHA Health Care Transformation Fellowship is an intensive, nine-month program targeting senior leaders to develop skills required for success in a rapidly evolving, dynamic health care environment. The curriculum covers a variety of health care transformation topics including innovative models of care delivery, financial models for the volume to value transition, and population health management. This robust fellowship is designed to give participants knowledge, actionable tools and valuable connections to transform their organizations, as well as ongoing opportunities for learning and involvement. Recruiting is currently underway for the next fellowship class, with applications due May 1. More detailed information can be found at www.hpoe.org/hctfellowship.
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Applications being accepted for the ABMS Visiting Scholars Program
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The American Board of Medical Specialties (ABMS) Visiting Scholars Program is accepting applications for the 2016-2017 class. Junior faculty, PhDs, residents/fellows, medical students, public health students, and graduate students in health services research and other relevant disciplines are invited to apply to participate in this exciting and dynamic, one-year, part-time program facilitating research projects designed to improve patient care. In addition to the research project, scholars are exposed to the fields of professional assessment and education, health policy and quality improvement and are offered the opportunity to develop leadership skills critical to their own professional growth and success. Scholar’s research should build on existing projects at their institution and generate data, tools and activities that could be useful to specialty boards in the Board Certification and Maintenance of Certification/Continuing Certification process. For more information about the program and the application process, contact ABMS at [email protected].
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Improving care and outcomes for patients with chronic pain focus of next PLF webinar
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Join the AHA’s Physician Leadership Forum and the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists on Tuesday, Mar. 22 beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET to learn about improving care and outcomes for complex patients with chronic pain.
In this 60-minute webinar, presenters from Brigham and Women’s Hospital will describe in detail a clinical pharmacy service that supports the management of chronic pain patients and the benefits these services provide to hospitals and health systems, including the challenges faced by providers in managing substance abuse. Participants will be able to:
- Describe the clinical pharmacist service and how such services can be established
- Describe the interprofessional collaboration and benefits to medical staff in effective and efficient management of their patients, and
- Describe the opportunities organizations can realize in improved patient outcomes, including proactively addressing substance abuse issues that can arise in patient populations served.
To register for this complimentary webinar, click here.
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FEATURED RESOURCE
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Physician Organization Governance: Transformation and Three Perspectives
For more resources, visit our website.
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MOST POPULAR
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The most popular article from our last issue:
Study finds physician burnout increasing across specialties
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