Bundled payments, a health care payment innovation that has been widely praised for controlling costs, recently got a bad rap. Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price has delayed implementation of the final Medicare rule for several bundled payment programs that were set to start this year. He has criticized the bundled […]
Health Care Price Transparency for Consumers Starts with Provider Action
“Consumer choice” is at the heart of the national health care debate. This presumes access to accurate information about costs. While consumers woke up to health care costs a few years ago as their share began to rise, they lack the necessary facts to make intelligent decisions about the quantity and quality of what […]
Fast Forward: Why Patients Should Own Their Medical Records
Up to now, who owns patient medical records hasn’t been a big issue. In fact, the “who owns” question has been largely confined to provider purchasing discussions regarding health care data analytics or other sharing of patient records, when providers want to assert their ownership of the data. Patients have had no voice […]
The Problematic “A” in the ACA Repeal and Replace
Last week, my sister sent me a copy of an email that she had sent to her inner circle. It began, “I am writing you today as a metastatic breast cancer patient . . . and also as your friend or relative who wants you to have the best resources and care if this […]
How to Turn 2016 PQRS Success into Better Care (and a MIPS Win)
March has arrived. The submission window for PQRS shuts on March 31. It’s the moment of truth for providers, practices and Registries. Are you ready to report, ready to panic or somewhere in-between? It’s probably too late to implement an initiative designed to improve your PQRS measures, but with the right Registry partner, […]