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 […]
How to Harness Clinical Data Registry Power to Improve Outcomes
At the center of Medicare’s Value-Based Health Care, the Clinical Data Registry (CDR) is introducing new possibilities for outcomes improvement. Under this month’s final rules, Medicare expanded the role of Specialized Registry and Clinical Data Registry reporting in its future Meaningful Use program. Specifically, CMS initiated provider reporting to a “Specialized Registry” in 2015 as […]
Population Health: Fact or Fiction?
For the past couple of years, “population health” has become a popular catchphrase. Everyone is talking about it, adopting it or selling it. But if you ask anyone what it means, you’ll get very different answers. That’s because there seems to be only one point of consensus—we need to focus health care efforts on specific […]
Academic Medical Centers at Risk: How to Survive Medicare and Medicaid Value-Based Health Care
Academic Medical Centers (AMCs) provide care to the most complicated patients and have surmounted some of the worst clinical challenges of all time. Yet the biggest issue to threaten survival of AMCs might well be Medicare and Medicaid Value-Based Purchasing. While AMCs incorporate the training of new physicians in both community and highly specialized care, […]
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 […]
Population Health: What Should It Really Mean?
A long time ago, on my first day of an Oncology fellowship, my soon-to-be-mentors asked me if I had a research interest. “Yes,” I said, “I want to cure breast cancer.” Their kind smiles belied their recognition of my naïveté. In retrospect, thinking too broadly leaves one adrift. To navigate to your goal, you need […]
Avoid PQRS and VBPM Penalties and Achieve Long Term Revenues: How to Choose the Right QCDR
Can you optimize your Value-Based Payment Modifier (VBPM) quality and cost profile to demonstrate better outcomes than others and avoid both PQRS and VBPM penalties at the same time? Yes: Use a Qualified Clinical Data Registry (QCDR) to do both. In 2014, the initial year of QCDR reporting, providers had the opportunity to report non-PQRS […]
Are “Flat-Line” Outcomes the Kiss of Death? How to Use a Registry for Outcomes Improvement Research
Despite a huge investment in health care, we have yet to demonstrate real progress in improving outcomes. A major study of patient outcomes last year revealed disappointing “flat-line” results for patient-centered medical home services, which means no difference in outcomes over time, regardless of significant expenditures. And that’s just the beginning. Assessments of cancer outcomes, preventive […]
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 […]
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 […]