Roji Intel Blog

Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance Improvement
September 20, 2017

Physicians Aren’t Engaged in Performance Because Measure Results Aren’t Real

According to management guru Peter Drucker, “If you can’t measure it, you can’t fix it.” Quality measurement and reporting have been rooted in similar reasoning. The idea is that we find out what’s wrong, and then we launch programs to improve it. That’s the linear route mapped out by Medicare starting with Meaningful Use, PQRS quality reporting, Value Modifier comparisons, and moving into current MACRA MIPS and APMs. But physicians have known something for a while that others have been unwilling to accept: quality reporting measures don’t give you a foundation for improving outcomes. Why? Because performance measurement does not…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPatient Empowerment
May 24, 2017

Can Consumers Help Reduce Rising Costs of Medical Technology?

In years to come, the current health care financial scene may seem like the “good old days” of health care for middle class Americans. Despite escalating consumer costs, proposed cuts in coverage, and an ever-rising cost of care, most Americans can still access health care services. They believe health care will be there for them, even if not everyone can get it. But the affordability of health care, regardless of coverage source, will soon be everyone’s problem. Medicare is projected to run out of money in only 10 years (some say less), and each year the cost of health care…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPatient Empowerment
May 10, 2017

Can Consumers Get Essential Information to Make Good Health Care Decisions?

In the rancorous public debate about how to provide health care to Americans—and especially to vulnerable people with higher risks, lower income, or both—there is a common explanation for rising costs: it’s the patients’ fault. According to this argument, we need to stop the “overuse” of health care services by consumers that are causing our costs to skyrocket. But what if consumers really wanted to be excellent, cost-effective purchasers of health care. Could they actually do it? Could they legitimately question their physicians about recommended treatments? There is little argument that the system of financing health care has immunized both…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Clinical Data RegistryFuture of Health CarePatient EmpowermentValue-Based Health Care
May 3, 2017

Health Care Providers Need Performance Data Audits to Market Trust

Health care systems once thought it was crude and undignified to use marketing to attract patients. No more. Now they use qualitative anecdotes to promote status at a time when data is king and consumers view comparative quality data on the Internet. Why not use quantitative evidence? Because their data doesn’t promote their cause—and even they don’t believe it. That avoidance behavior is a huge mistake. Health care organizations need to take steps now to turn performance data into valid indicators of both quality and cost. Otherwise they will risk losing control over their stories as providers of excellence. Consumers…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPatient Empowerment
March 14, 2017

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 in this conversation. Few people question the provider’s ownership of a patient’s record, which is supported by state statutes (only one state grants ownership to patients) as well as the rare case of litigation. All that changes going forward. Why? Because big revisions in health insurance will…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPatient EmpowermentPerformance Improvement
February 14, 2017

Turning Patients into Health Care Consumers—For Economic Survival

If we want to help people take better charge of their health—both physically and financially—we should start by treating them as real consumers, instead of patients. While that may seem like a simple change in terminology, it is anything but. A Patient Is a Recipient of Services, Not the Actor Health care organizations often work hard to welcome patients and provide as many services as needed. They design facilities to be comfortable, and there are often superb training programs for staff to be courteous, communicative, and to make patients comfortable. But let’s be honest. Health care is a business concern,…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CarePerformance Improvement
January 31, 2017

The Dirty Little Secret About Performance Measurement Data

“The data just hooks up.” That was an opening remark from a competitor applauding his company’s scoring system for physician quality. He went on to explain how this data produced reliable scores on quality. The idea that data hooks up and produces a true scoring system for quality is a fantasy. Not only is data itself flawed, but it doesn’t always tell the exact truth. Treating data casually amounts to an off-hand dismissal of the complexity and inherent biases of performance measurement. But here’s the kicker: we need to measure performance, anyway. In fact, it’s more critical than ever to…
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Theresa Hush 0
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MACRAPerformance ImprovementQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Health Care
October 25, 2016

Your Wish List for MACRA Performance Improvement Technology

Even as CMS has eased the transition to MACRA with the Final Rule published on October 14, managing under Risk remains a core goal. The best way to prepare your organization? Develop MACRA Improvement Activities (formerly CPIAs), the training ground for managing under Risk. The MACRA Improvement Activities cover all of the processes and root causes of health care cost increases, and Medicare wants you to address them. Hint: they’re scoring your work. While the MACRA requirements are now superficially easy to meet—attest to at least one Performance Improvement Activity—the reality will be very different if you are really preparing for…
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Dave Halpert 0
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Alternative Payment Models (APM)MACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Health Care
September 7, 2016

Back to School: Your Post-MACRA Study Guide for QPP Success

Back to school. That phrase prompts memories of making new friends (and catching up with old friends); carts full of notebooks, binders and pens; new classes; and, of course, abject terror. As the summer sun sets on PQRS, the Value Modifier (VM) and Meaningful Use (MU), it’s time for all of us to get into back-to-school mode, take the lessons we’ve learned and build on them for future success. Unfortunately, however, there’s an added challenge. Rather than having a season off to rest, regroup and ease into the new fall schedule, the transition from old programs to new is immediate…
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Thomas Dent, M.D. 0
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Clinical Data RegistryMACRAMedical Decision-MakingMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingRegistry ScienceResearch
July 19, 2016

MACRA Match-up: How EHR Source Data Will Benefit Registry Research

At the core of MACRA and MIPS requirements, Electronic Health Record (EHR) source data will soon become a key component for Registry research. Specifically, Clinical Performance Improvement Activities (CPIAs) are a required component of MIPS. Performance improvement efforts will no longer be optional. Quality data will be essential. EHRs present an excellent data resource, but the data is not flawless. Registries are well suited for validating data and assessing performance using a continuous improvement model—testing an idea by changing a practice and measuring its impact. When done on a small scale, testing performance improvement activities and the feasibility of population-based…
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