Roji Intel Blog

Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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ACO ReportingAlternative Payment Models (APM)Clinical Data RegistryFuture of Health CareMeaningful UseMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementRegistry ScienceResearchValue-Based Health Care
February 2, 2016

All Together, Now: Why Specialists Need the CDR Edge for Bundled Payments

With the advent of Bundled Payments for selected procedures and conditions, providers and institutions must collaborate to meet both cost and quality targets. No longer will each provider bill and receive payment separately for services when these bundles become mandatory—as most experts believe will happen. All providers participating in a set “bundled” price must focus on coordinated performance improvement or face penalties. Key to that effort: a Clinical Data Registry (CDR) that tracks patient outcome data over time and pinpoints success or failure of interventions. CDR Performance Improvement Tools Are Essential for Bundled Payments Success The CDR fulfills two fundamental…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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AttributionClinical Data RegistryFuture of Health CareMeaningful UsePerformance ImprovementValue-Based Health Care
January 12, 2016

Public Health Reporting for Specialists: Avoiding Penalties Isn’t the Only Reason to Comply

At the heart of CMS’s Public Health Reporting Requirements for Meaningful Use is a basic premise: EMR technology must facilitate tracking of public health trends and long-term outcomes improvement. That is why all providers in the Meaningful Use program, regardless of specialty, are now being required to engage in public health reporting to avoid a penalty. Many specialists don’t see the point of reporting for public health reasons or find it too difficult. While it’s true that specialists face some specific challenges that require dedicated reporting to fit their clinical operations and to avoid professional and financial risks, there are…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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ACO ReportingClinical Data RegistryMeaningful UsePerformance ImprovementPQRS ReportingRegistry ScienceValue-Based Payment Modifier
December 8, 2015

Want Real Performance and Outcomes Improvement? Track Interventions and Results Over Time

Time will explain it all. He is a talker, and needs no questioning before he speaks—Euripides For many providers, reviewing performance data is just another distraction from practicing medicine, rather than a valued tool for making better medical decisions. And who can blame them? Performance or outcome data reviewed in isolation, as static results, aren’t all that useful. The exercise is akin to looking at a single photograph of an event and inferring cause and effect without any corroborating evidence. To be an effective resource that leads to actual outcome improvements, data must be tracked over time. Most often, however,…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Clinical Data RegistryMeaningful UseMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)
November 3, 2015

Making the Most of Meaningful Use: How the “Specialized Registry” Can Secure Your Future in MIPS

Good health care requires insight. That’s the message under Medicare’s new Medicare Meaningful Use rules for 2015 through 2017, giving providers the option to use a Specialized Registry to meet the Public Health Reporting Objective. The new rule also lays out how a Clinical Data Registry (CDR) will fit into this and other MU objectives in the future. Both the Specialized Registry and the CDR reflect a significant opportunity. Why? Because as these Registries collect, analyze and show data from providers who will need to report in order to be in compliance with Medicare, there will be a lot of…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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ACO ReportingFuture of Health CareValue-Based Payment Modifier
July 28, 2015

Are Your Specialists and ACO Ready for the Referral Revolution? Part 1

The practice of physician-determined referrals to specialists is deeply embedded in the culture of medicine. But it no longer works under Value-Based Health Care. A revolution in referrals is underway, one that will dramatically change physician alignment and engagement in ACOs and other Pay for Performance models. Outcome measures can distinguish the performance of one specialist versus another—and this performance data is available to both health systems and physicians. We all know that pure comparative performance data has a lot of flaws. But Medicare is publishing provider-specific performance for PQRS and group performance for ACOs, and calculating comparative scores under the…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Population HealthRegistry ScienceResearch
March 17, 2015

Placebo v Nocebo: How to Test Methods of Physician Engagement in Population Health

The Holy Grail for value-based health care is to improve patient quality and cost outcomes, while stabilizing or reducing annual aggregate payouts for insurance and government benefits. By holding physicians and health systems accountable, the theory goes, providers will engage with patients in a process leading to better status and lower costs. The key word here is “engage,” because none of this happens in a vacuum. Provider engagement is essential for making change happen. But if engagement is the key, how do physicians’ mindsets, attitudes and language play into outcomes?  Providers are not a homogenous group, any more than patients…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPopulation HealthResearch
February 17, 2015

Should Wearable Tech Be Tied to Patient Outcomes? Benefits and Risks of Sharing Personal Digital Data

How many steps did you take today? If you’re a Fitbit fan, you know precisely, and you’re not alone. Digital health devices were a $5 billion-plus growth industry last year, and the range of gadgets is expanding rapidly, from ear devices that measure blood pressure, respiration rate and oxygenation level, to iPhone cases that record your ECG. While wearable tech is a popular means to track your personal health and fitness, the data you collect is also a valuable commodity for ACOs, Health Systems and employers, who are looking for new ways to achieve meaningful savings under Value-Based Health Care.…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CarePopulation HealthPQRS ReportingValue-Based Payment Modifier
January 27, 2015

How Medicare is Moving from PQRS Basics into Value-Based Care: Improving Outcomes with Plan of Care

For a number of PQRS measures, Medicare requires that the provider document a Follow-up Plan or Plan of Care to demonstrate that appropriate interventions have been made to reduce risk. This has caused confusion and consternation among some of our clients who may not have clearly documented the follow-up plan or may disagree with Medicare on the plan’s criteria. Nonetheless, documentation of risk-reduction interventions is in keeping with CMS plans to transition all reimbursement into Value-Based Care, so it’s essential to understand how to manage this process. In fact, just this past Monday, January 26, Health and Human Services Secretary…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Population HealthPQRS Reporting
December 9, 2014

How to Energize Your Providers to Measure and Improve Outcomes

It’s no wonder that so many physicians feel threatened by the mention of outcomes measurement. All too often, outcomes are used as a club to punish providers who seem to weaken overall group performance. Or outcomes are packaged and applied in a way that doesn’t provide actionable information—which can seem like a waste of everyone’s time and resources. To engage your providers—and get the real benefit from this form of health care data analysis—try to link your efforts to measure and improve outcomes with an iterative process of inquiry into best practices. Why Outcomes Measurement Can Seem Misleading Measuring patient…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Population HealthPQRS Reporting
December 2, 2014

No More Blame Game: How to Use Patient Outcomes Measurement to Boost Quality and Provider Performance

Fair or not, if your patients don’t do well, your physicians can be tagged as poorly performing providers. But there are ways to change the dynamic for your organization by effectively using patient outcomes measurement to structure and drive a quality program that benefits both patients and providers. Tracking the health and status of patients—“how patients do”—is the Holy Grail of quality measurement. Despite the fact that it is very difficult to identify a direct cause and effect between provider action and patient outcomes, quality programs are shifting the emphasis to patient outcomes and attributing performance to physicians. This is…
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