Category Archives: Big Data
What A Hospital Charges Vs. What Medicare Pays — Yet Another Case for Pricing Transparency
According to “A Study of Hospital Charge Setting Practices” by the Lewin Group, “the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has expressed concerns about the accuracy and fairness of the current Medicare hospital in- and out-patient prospective payment systems (PPSs). Payment rates for these systems are based, to varying degrees, on hospital charges. However, little is known about how hospitals set their charges.” Really? Isn’t it getting old. Why the “shell game” with hospital charges? Charging everyone the same published price –a la Walmart—is exactly what Walmart will do at thousands of outpatient clinics, so saying it can’t be done is, [...]
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How Does Healthcare IT Re-Invent Itself Amidst a Serious Skilled Labor Shortage?
Would you be surprised to learn that the US Department of Labor expects jobs for medical records and health information technicians to jump 21 percent from 2010 to 2020? And while that may be a good thing for the general economy, it’s a real nightmare for HIT executives who have no option other than to play the new game –by its evolving set of rules– yet can’t find the players to field a competitive team. Despite the fact that hospitals are spending tens of millions upgrading their IT systems, “there’s nobody to work on them” says Steve Ullman, director of health [...]
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Why ACO’s Won’t Fail — A Contrarian View?
Will ACOs succeed? Well, if you put a lot of weight behind what the industry’s “commentariat” are saying, you would be hard pressed to place a positive bet. I recently ran across a post by Les Funtleyder, the managing director of Poliwogg, where he took a contrarian view and gave reasons why ACOs will not fail. Here are some excerpts: When ACOs are touted as a saving grace for the system, you can almost hear the collective groan of the industry veterans. Ever the contrarian, however, we took the side of the debate that said ACOs will NOT fail. The [...]
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California’s Community Medical Centers Joins Premier –PremierConnect Draws Them In
California’s Community Medical Centers joins the Premier Alliance. As central California’s largest healthcare provider and private employer and as a new member (“owner”) of Premier, Community now has the opportunity to collaborate with other Premier members –nearly half of the nation’s hospitals. “Community is excited to partner with Premier to overcome the challenges of this reform environment and lead others in adapting to the changing nature of care delivery with innovative solutions,” said Mr. Jack Chubb, CEO of Community Regional Medical Center. The locally owned nonprofit system will integrate data across its nine network facilities including three acute-care hospitals, as [...]
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Big Pharma Preparing for a Pipeline Shopping Spree, Says GlobalData
Despite a recent fall in deal volume and overall value, some of the pharmaceutical industry’s major players are about to splash out in an effort to restock depleted drug pipelines, says an analyst with research and consulting firm GlobalData. In a new report, Adam Dion, analyst with GlobalData, states that industry leaders such as Pfizer, Merck, GSK and AstraZeneca are paying the price for failing to adequately prepare for the effects of the patent cliff. This report was built using data and information sourced from proprietary databases, primary and secondary research, and in-house analysis conducted by GlobalData’s team of industry [...]
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Adverse Effects of Hormonal Contraceptives Now On the Docket
I received a note over the weekend from Eric Burns, the immediate past president of Media Matters for America. Along with Karl Frisch, a former communications director, they launched a new company called Bullfight Strategies –and their business is good. The company was founded with a goal to empower clients “to win in the media arena.” It does so by focusing on the right kinds of rapid response narrative, fully conditioned to take advantage of what has become known as “the 15 minute news cycle.” Eric wanted to make sure that Healthcare Matters’ readers were aware of the latest developments [...]
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Premier & Phytel Partner to Provide More Comprehensive Ambulatory Care Solutions
Premier has partnered with Phytel to more fully automate population health services. The partnership enables a more comprehensive population health suite allowing providers to manage patient care more efficiently, with better understanding of outcomes and total cost. The solution uses predictive analytics to profile an entire population, not just those who have been treated. The intelligence garnered can more effectively support emerging care delivery and risk management models as providers participating in accountable care organizations (ACOs) are reimbursed based on quality and cost overall. Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO participant Thomas Auer, MD, CEO of Bon Secours Virginia Medical Group, [...]
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Can Unique Device Identification Improve the Patient Experience?
Healthcare Matters would like to welcome the following guest post from Rob Leibrandt. Rob is the Senior Market Manager at Camcode, makers of UDI Labels for Medical Equipment. Unique Device Identification (UDI) is critically important in the healthcare system. In July 2012, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) proposed a rule (http://www.regulations.gov/#!documentDetail;D=FDA-2011-N-0090-0001) that would phase in, by device classes, requirements for medical devices to carry a unique device identifier. The benefits to implementing such a requirement include more accurate reporting and tracking of adverse events, more rapid identification of problems with specific products, better control over product recalls and improved patient [...]
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The GPO Business Model Continues to Evolve –SCM Applications Taking the Lead
Novation has formed a new company that will offer hospitals and other providers an online platform to negotiate custom contracts for medical supplies. The new company, called Aptitude, will operate as a wholly owned subsidiary –and its services will be available to all comers, not just members of its GPO network. Such enlightened reasoning is becoming increasingly pervasive among the largest GPOs who are all starting to recognize that growth (in terms of market share) is difficult to achieve with an “all or nothing” mindset. According to an article that just appeared in Modern Healthcare yesterday, “Aptitude executives say the [...]
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AHRQ Study Reveals Low Hanging Fruit
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently published a new report that identifies the most promising practices for improving patient safety in U.S. hospitals. Following up on a similar report published all the way back in 2001, this report includes analyses of a growing body of patient safety research to determine the level of evidence regarding the outcomes, as well as implementation, adoption, and the context in which safety strategies have been used. After analyzing 41 patient safety practices, a panel of experts identified 22 practical strategies. Here are the top 5: Preoperative and anesthesia checklists to help [...]
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Catholic Health Partners Joins Premier’s Population Health Collaborative (PACT)
Catholic Health Partners (CHP) has joined the Premier healthcare alliance’s population health collaborative. Premier’s PACT™ Population Health Collaborative unites providers engaging in accountable care organizations (ACOs) to share knowledge and best practices, while measuring and benchmarking care with integrated patient data. Current membership includes 79 health systems across 40 states that represent 25 active ACOs. According to the press announcement, “to provide coordinated, accountable care, health systems need a better understanding of patient outcomes and total cost, including care delivered beyond the four walls of the care setting. Providers demonstrating these capabilities today are well on their way to adapting in [...]
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HMS Delivers New COB Solution –Right on Time for Commercial Insurers
We all have certain experiences that stand out in our respective memories and will forever remain vivid. For many of us, it’s the birth of a child. For me, it was a short period of time between late 1992 and early 1994 when there were actually two incomes in our household –two paychecks. My wife was gainfully employed during that time. I get wispy even thinking about it. We not only had two paychecks, but two sets of benefits. She worked for Glaxo at that time and I worked for a no-name start-up. Her benefits were gold-plated and mine, well, [...]
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GS1 Healthcare US Publishes New Guideline for Pharmaceutical Handling
The GS1 Healthcare U.S. Secure Supply Chain Task Force, consisting of more than 50 members from throughout the supply chain, has developed a guideline to identify and serialize pharmaceutical products using GS1 identification numbers. The guideline titled “Applying GS1 Standards to U.S. Pharmaceutical Supply Chain Business Processes to Support Serialization, Pedigree and Track & Trace” enables pharmaceutical companies to trace the movement of products through the U.S. pharmaceutical supply chain. The guideline focuses primarily on best practices and methodologies for product serialization and sharing pedigree and traceability data to support implementation for pending state regulations. Implementing GS1 Standards will contribute [...]
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Allscripts Buys dbMotion and Jardogs –An ACO Service Strategy Revealed
Yesterday, Paul Black, Allscripts’ new CEO announced two deals: Allscripts acquired privately held health solutions providers, dbMotion, Ltd. and Jardogs LLC. The dbMotion solution has some significant IP associated with it, supporting what is known as “semantic interoperability.” At the application level, it aggregates and harmonizes clinical content into a single clinical view, clarifying disparate codes and vocabularies used inside EHRs. In doing so, it forms a foundation for accountable care and population health management. The Jardogs FollowMyHealth solution enables “patient engagement,” allowing patients to actively monitor and optimize health status by participating in their own care, which is critical [...]
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US Healthcare Performance –Compared to What?
I don’t know if you saw it, but Steven Brill’s recent, 26,000 word Time Magazine article on U.S. healthcare costs –why they’re so high relative to the rest of the world—offered very little in terms of fresh insight. Unless you still enjoy reading about the ridiculous cost of a single aspirin when you’re in the hospital –and other similar cliches– the article did nothing but reinforce popular, common knowledge. “Regrettably, his piece also amplified some important myths about the American healthcare system,” according to Chris Conover, a contributing editor to Forbes, the biggest among them being that U.S. patient outcomes [...]
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AMA and McKesson Team-Up to Improve Molecular Diagnostic Testing
The American Medical Association (AMA) and McKesson have entered into a licensing relationship to offer the industry a more consistent and transparent way to identify and track molecular diagnostic (MDx) tests. Under the agreement, McKesson Z-Code™ Identifiers will be grouped and indexed with corresponding molecular pathology codes in the AMA’s Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set. With identifiers and codes working in tandem to create a comprehensive reference for identifying and tracking MDx tests, the healthcare industry can better understand the growth in this area to support advanced diagnostics innovation. Today, over 3,000 molecular and genetic diagnostics are marketed for clinical use. According to Frost & Sullivan, MDx is the [...]
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- Healthcare in the Cloud: Forecast Still Hazy : HIMSS 2013: Top Takeaways Gathering Clouds said: [...] to David McCament’s mind, the future of healthcare cloud is not so clear. In a gue... more
- Time Definite Logistics –MNX Expands Global Network and Adds Track & Trace : Daniel said: Everything is very open with a precise description of the issues. It was definitely inform... more
- Varian Runs a “Clinic” in Effective Lobbying –Harry Reid Rides Shotgun : Thomas Finn said: Thanks for your comment Bo. I do not fully comprehend the differences between the two opti... more
- Varian Runs a “Clinic” in Effective Lobbying –Harry Reid Rides Shotgun : Barton 'Bo' Cooke said: Tom, you nailed it. This rider, put in at the last minute and was rushed into the Congres... more
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