Skilled nursing facilities that delay joining an Accountable Care Organization will likely be losers in the healthcare marketplace, according to John Durso, a partner at the law firm of Ungaretti & Harris LLP. Durso recently offered tips for nursing homes that are negotiating to join an integrated care network.
Medicare beneficiaries should be allowed to enroll in a network that would "incentivize higher quality" and more cost-effective and coordinated care, according to a new report whose authors include three former Senators.
Palliative care should follow care coordination and quality improvement processes called for by the Affordable Care Act, according to updated guidelines from the National Consensus Project for Quality Palliative Care.
As part of an effort to improve coordination among different care settings and reduce rehospitalizations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is now accepting two new codes related to transitional care.
November 15, 2012
Accountable care organizations contracting with Medicare might double in January, according to the head of the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation.
August 21, 2012
A snapshot of hospitals involved in accountable care organizations finds that they are making progress in improving the coordination of care.
Those most likely to benefit from participation in accountable care organizations may face the biggest barriers to enrollment, a new report suggests.
Long-term care providers must collaborate and create partnerships with their acute care counterparts in order to make efficient use of new technology, a health information management expert told listeners at a special McKnight's webcast Tuesday.
States eager to test payment reform models for federal health programs can apply for awards totaling $275 million, courtesy of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
July 02, 2012
Many states are considering their options in the wake of a seemingly favorable Supreme Court ruling. The nation's highest court ruled that Congress exceeded its reach when it threatened states with a total Medicaid funding cutoff if they failed to participate in an expanded Medicaid program.
Accountable care organizations are expected to thrive even if the Supreme Court throws out the Affordable Care Act, healthcare law experts said Tuesday.
June 18, 2012
For many, it appears that finding their own answers to long-term care's challenges and opportunities is the first and only default option. But the future means finding some dance partners.
Provider groups are pushing Congress to replace the formula Medicare uses to reimburse physicians and eliminate other regulatory burdens.
In anticipation of payment reforms centering on coordinated care, health systems and a major Tennessee insurer are establishing a bundled payment system for joint replacements.
May 23, 2012
Healthcare reform efforts targeted at reducing hospital readmissions are here to stay, experts told participants in a McKnight's webcast Tuesday.
Conservative healthcare analysts warned a House committee that several provisions of the Affordable Care Act could cause further industry consolidation and weaken Medicare.
Physicians largely lead the first group of Medicare Shared Savings accountable care organizations, but long-term care facilities will be an integral part of their future success, a Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official said Tuesday.
Healthcare providers should work on keeping Alzheimer's patients out of a hospital before they enter a nursing home, a new study suggests.
April 03, 2012
You may not like — nay, hate — the Affordable Care Act. The U.S. Supreme Court may agree with you. That doesn't mean the justices will strike it down.
February 23, 2012
The federal government on Wednesday unveiled the first draft of its national action plan against Alzheimer's disease. Building on the framework published in January, the draft released by the Department of Health and Human Services yesterday proposes the creation of registries to better direct Alzheimer's sufferers into clinical trials.
November 10, 2011
Nurses have numerous reasons to be pleased the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has updated accountable care organization guidelines, several nursing organizations maintain.
Accountable care organizations could very well improve the quality of healthcare, but incentivizing lower spending also could cause providers to cut corners, a new report suggests.
October 21, 2011
Federal regulators have boosted incentives for becoming part of an accountable care organization, drawing a more positive response from long-term care providers.
Providers should be avidly trying to reduce rehospitalization rates as a measure of quality, according to an American Health Care Association executive.
September 26, 2011
As the Nov. 4 deadline for healthcare providers to get into the Bundled Payment initiative from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid approaches, healthcare providers are still struggling to figure out new approaches to reimbursement.
June 03, 2011
As the comment period on the accountable care organizations proposed federal rule approaches its end, provider groups and pilot programs are asking for numerous changes, including reducing quality improvement measures.
May 16, 2011
I haven't heard them pronounced this way yet, but long-term care providers might want to consider it when it comes to ACOs. Instead of spelling it out, as in A-C-O, say it phonetically, as in "Ache-O."
April 25, 2011
A new report suggests that accountable care organizations can lead to better health for beneficiaries and lower costs for healthcare participants.
April 20, 2011
If there were any doubt, you can erase it now: If you're a long-term care provider, you MUST make sure you are ingrained in whatever form accountable care organizations take near you in the future. That message came through exceedingly clear from Mark Parkinson, president and CEO of the American Health Care Association, during a free-ranging sit-down Tuesday with reporters.
April 20, 2011
Nursing homes are "perfect partners" for accountable care organizations and don't want to be left behind in the changing healthcare landscape, the leader of the nation's biggest nursing home association said Tuesday.
