Roji Intel Blog

Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingResearch
August 21, 2019

AI May Be the Future, But It’s Not (Yet) the Future of Clinical Research

Good medical practice depends on good clinical research. Without rigorous, replicable, reliable research findings, we cannot trust that our medical decisions are based on truth. To put it bluntly, flawed research leads to bad medicine. It’s essential that we get it right. In this series, I have argued for a more rigorous approach. The present model of clinical research is expensive, slow, studies insufficient populations of subjects—making generalizability difficult— and lacks power to examine important variations in clinical and personal characteristics of individuals. In my biased view, study design determines if research is being done. Without an appropriate design, we…
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Theresa Hush 0
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ACOsFuture of Health CarePrimary Care PracticesQuality Payment ProgramValue-Based Health Care
August 14, 2019

Five Actions ACOs Should Take Now: Takeaways from Proposed CMS Rulemaking

Last week CMS released a proposed rule addressing revisions in the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and the Quality Payment Program (QPP), along with a few other matters. Of 1,704 pages, only about 20 addressed ACOs issues directly. But ACOs should take a holistic approach to reading this proposed rule, as well as the proposed Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) rule. Competition Among Risk Models Will Strongly Affect the Course of Change With so many CMS programs and models now in flux, the whole is more than the sum of its parts. It’s worth the effort to pay attention to the…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareRiskSpecialty Physicians
August 7, 2019

Risk Payment Models Will Fuel Growth of Equity-Backed Physician Practices

Risk payment models present a daunting challenge to the very cultural of medicine—for most physician practices. Physicians identify their practices as clinical enterprises more than businesses, although some have managed to achieve success solely by being excellent clinicians in their fields. Patients, however, are quick to see the flaws along with higher costs—hence complaints about customer service, poor billing practices, and difficulty communicating. But clinical practice success, up until now, has been measured by the yardstick of Fee-for-Service reimbursement: higher incomes through patient volume and services. Hospital purchasers of physician practices adopted the same benchmarks of success. Even as hospital…
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Dave Halpert 0
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Alternative Payment Models (APM)Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Quality Payment ProgramRisk
July 31, 2019

A MIPS Rewrite is Certain: CMS Proposed Rule for the 2020 Quality Payment Program

The CMS Proposed Rule for the 2020 Physician Fee Schedule and changes to the Quality Payment Program picks up where the “Pathways to Success” ACO rule left off. This time, the “Pathways” shake-up is aimed squarely at MIPS, in the form of “MIPS Value Pathways.” We’ve described the growing frustration with MIPS, specifically MedPAC’s report to Congress on its concerns that MIPS is overly burdensome and complex, and doesn’t translate into better care. That theme repeatedly shines through the 1,704 page proposal. CMS is using this rule as an initial salvo indicating that MIPS as we know it is headed…
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Theresa Hush 0
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ACOsFuture of Health CarePrimary Care PracticesValue-Based Health Care
July 24, 2019

Can ACOs Survive the Complicated New Landscape in Medicare Risk?

What a difference a year makes. In Spring 2018, many Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) pondered a walkout over Medicare plans that included downside risk in ACO financials. Nonetheless, CMS finalized its plans to make provider risk a reality for all ACOs in its Pathways to Success overhaul of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). ACOs’ lukewarm reception to the goal of compelled savings, however, was not forgotten. Fast forward to April 2019, when CMS announced five Primary Care Models to propel physician groups to adopt risk-based reimbursement directly—including capitation. Those models are now under fast-paced implementation, with application deadlines approaching.…
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Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CareResearch
July 17, 2019

How the Stock Market Models a Path to Better Research.

The better clinical research is, the better medical care will be. It is so crucial to the future of best medical care that I have highlighted deficiencies of the present conduct of randomized trials (RTs) in previous articles to suggest ways to improve. A system of better research must accommodate studies on any intervention aimed to improve care, including interventions such as a change in practice, any quality or safety plan, or an economic principle such as fee-for-service versus capitation—not just studies of new drugs. In my last article, I coined the term “Gallup Research Medicine” as a model to…
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Theresa Hush 0
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ACOsFuture of Health CarePrimary Care PracticesValue-Based Health Care
July 10, 2019

Can Medicare Primary Care Risk Models Work in Today’s Practice Environment?

There’s now no doubt that Medicare is eager to move forward with Value-Based Health Care and risk-based reimbursement. CMS has rolled out major changes to make Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) risk-bearing and add attractive benefits to capitated Medicare Advantage plans. Add to that two new classes of Primary Care Risk Models that introduce risk-based reimbursement into the general provider population, which, CMS says, are designed to stimulate primary care: Primary Care First (PCF) and Direct Contracting (DC). But we also know, from early CMS statements on direct contracting, that it intended to find other mechanisms to move physicians into Value-Based Health…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingPrimary Care PracticesValue-Based Health Care
June 26, 2019

Follow the Pathway to PCP Success In Medicare Direct Contracting

Primary care physicians were sitting on the sidelines as Medicare developed financial risk models in various generations of ACOs. At best, they could only hope to participate in Medicare Advantage and/or join a larger ACO. But potential for financial gain was elusive when the physicians’ success depended on the actions of others to achieve savings. Now Medicare is offering a carrot to large primary care practices with its new Direct Contracting (DC) models, luring them with the possibility of capturing higher and more predictable revenues as well as shared savings. CMS recently announced an initiative to test risk-based reimbursement models…
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Evelyn Herwitz 0
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Future of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
June 19, 2019

Roji News Roundup: Industry Insights from CEO Theresa Hush

From women’s health care to the future of the Affordable Care Act, Roji Health Intelligence CEO Terry Hush has shared her insights with numerous industry publications in recent months. Here’s a sampling of current articles: Value-based arrangements in ASCs — 3 quotes from an industry CEO Becker’s ASC Review | June 11, 2019 Terry’s predictions, based on 25 years of industry experience, for what to expect for the future of risk-based agreements. Hint: Episodes of care and bundled payments will become increasingly important. The Future of Healthcare: “Make tools available for women so that they can have a real voice…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
June 12, 2019

Get the eBook “Not Second Best: Inject Value in Women’s Health Care”

Six months ago, I started writing about women’s health, in response to this simple question: What trends are emerging in health care for 2019? The New Year is filled with predictions about what is coming, and I thought this year’s list from health care leaders was too “last-year.” Artificial intelligence, medical science advancements in biologicals and genetic therapies, and business consolidation are not coming; they are already here and will simply go further. Witnessing the debate about health care rights in the country, and the increasing distrust of health care by consumers, I observed that most of those speaking are…
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