Alternative Payment Models (APM)Future of Health CareMACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementValue-Based Health Care
October 4, 2016

Improve Your Risk Readiness With Physician-Driven MACRA CPIA Innovation

CMS is pushing providers to accept Risk under Alternative Payment Models (APMs), and they’re sweetening the pot with incentives. But for the vast number of providers who will participate in MIPS because they don’t participate in risk-based APMs, the path to reward is murky. That’s because many Health Systems have a hard time visualizing how Performance Improvement with CPIAs can create savings under ACOs, the biggest APM model. Here’s the key: innovation that engages physicians. Historical Performance Improvement Often Leaves Out Physicians For most Health Systems, it’s rare for physicians to actively participate in Performance Improvement initiatives. There are two…
Read More
Alternative Payment Models (APM)Future of Health CareMACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue-Based Health Care
September 27, 2016

Boost Your MIPS Score with Care Coordination CPIAs—Your Patients Will Thank You

The reaction to MACRA Pick Your Pace speaks volumes about the state of preparedness for the upcoming Quality Payment Program (QPP). Some see Pick Your Pace as a reprieve, others see it as a parachute, and a select few see it as a way to get a head start on their peers. There’s a danger to being in the first two camps. Neither fully recognizes that CMS will differentiate practices on Resource Use. As a result, they have no impetus to implement Clinical Practice Improvement Activities (CPIAs) focusing on Care Coordination; but this is an area that will impact each…
Read More
Future of Health CareMACRAMeaningful UsePerformance ImprovementPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue ModifierValue-Based Health Care
September 13, 2016

CMS Okays MACRA Flexibility: Standstill or Startup for Providers?

With the CMS announcement last week that the final MACRA Rules will let providers pick and choose activities—or even delay requirements—2017 implementation is now a toss-up. Will providers double down on efforts to meet the MACRA standards in 2018? Or, will eased deadline pressure reverse momentum within health care systems? There are many valid reasons why the lead-time decision is important. MACRA represents one of the biggest overhauls of the Medicare reimbursement program, and many of the elements have not been fleshed out. Releasing final rules one month in advance of their going into effect surely makes it difficult for…
Read More
Future of Health CarePersonalized MedicineRegistry ScienceResearch
August 9, 2016

Personalized Medicine Can’t Wait for Genomic Data

Personalized medicine is off and running. The effort to enroll one million people who will volunteer their genomes for science by the year 2019 kicked off recently with an event featuring President Obama that included more than 150 of the first volunteers. But this effort is not for my patient. It will be either too little, or too late, and certainly not enough. While personalized medicine is an old concept, the new push for personalization focuses on genes or gene products. These, it is hoped, may be better predictors of an individual’s outcome of a disease condition. The new efforts may…
Read More
Future of Health CareMACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue ModifierValue-Based Health CareValue-Based Payment Modifier
August 2, 2016

Use PQRS 2016 Reporting to Prepare for MACRA MIPS

In the last year of PQRS reporting, you may be tempted to take it easy and complete the bare minimum of reporting requirements. But don’t stick your head in the sand. First, PQRS and Value Modifier (VM) penalties are still alive and strong in 2016 and will affect your revenues in 2018. Second, if you’ve only been meeting reporting requirements and have yet to evaluate your performance, you stand to lose more under the tougher requirements of MACRA MIPS next year. We cannot stress this enough: 2016 should be the year to seriously evaluate your performance and create your strategy.…
Read More
ACO ReportingAlternative Payment Models (APM)Future of Health CareMACRAMeaningful UseMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Population HealthPQRS ReportingQualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingValue ModifierValue-Based Health Care
June 7, 2016

Proposed MACRA Rules: Your APM Strategy for Risk Readiness

If you chose not to participate in Medicare ACOs or Bundled Payments in recent years, CMS is planning to change your mind. Proposed MACRA Rules reveal a complex carrot-and-stick approach to inducing providers into risk models. Make no mistake: it’s just a matter of when, not if, you participate in one of the Alternative Payment Models (APMs). It will pay (literally) to begin planning your path to risk now. Here are five important provisions in the Proposed Rules that you need to understand: Full qualification as an Advanced APM earns a 5 percent lump sum bonus, exemption from participation in…
Read More
Alternative Payment Models (APM)Clinical IntegrationFuture of Health CareMACRAMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Performance ImprovementValue-Based Health Care
May 17, 2016

3 Ways Proposed MACRA Rules Revive Health Systems’ Clinical Integration Programs

Clinical Integration in medium to large Health Systems just received a nice push from the federal government’s Proposed Rules for MACRA. Health Systems trying to market quality-based physician and hospital networks systems— especially those with both employed and private physicians—should take note. This opportunity for Health Systems to bridge Medicare and private health plan quality is one of the best features of MACRA. Why? Look at this triple play of provisions woven through both MIPS and APMs: “Other-Payer” Advanced APMs will be allowed in the program’s third year to meet Advanced APM status by participating in both Health Plan and Medicare…
Read More
ACO ReportingClinical Data RegistryFuture of Health CarePerformance ImprovementRegistry ScienceResearchValue-Based Health Care
April 26, 2016

Your Health Care IT Investments: How to Purchase for Performance Improvement

Health care technology (HIT) is frequently oversold. That may be a surprising message coming from a Registry CEO, but it’s the truth. In the quest for answers, too many providers search for a system that can “do it all,” a dream technology that exists, well, only in your dreams. There is intense pressure on providers to prepare for undertaking the financial risk of patient care, while maintaining or improving patient quality and outcomes. Two factors are driving the push for HIT purchases to meet this demand: providers’ strong wish for easy and straightforward solutions that can mesh with existing technology,…
Read More
Alternative Payment Models (APM)Future of Health CarePerformance ImprovementSpecialized RegistryValue-Based Health Care
April 12, 2016

Boutique Medicine’s Quality Challenge: Can Specialized Registries Aid Consumer Choice?

Many physicians—especially those in primary care—are angry about the practice of medicine. Dogged by high administrative overhead, they feel the pressure of shorter visit times to meet the practice’s income needs. In some geographic areas, PCPs are opting out of Medicare assignment in large numbers and establishing boutique medicine practices (including “concierge medicine”). Indeed, as CMS pushes providers toward risk under Alternative Payment Mechanisms (APMs) and away from the traditional fee-for-service, concierge medicine has become an attractive alternative for physicians who are fed up with the system. What does this trend mean for access and quality of care, especially when…
Read More
Clinical Data RegistryFuture of Health CareMeaningful UseMerit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS)Qualified Clinical Data Registry ReportingSpecialized RegistryValue-Based Health Care
March 29, 2016

Public Health Reporting Under Meaningful Use: Delayed—or Dead?

Of all the requirements in the EHR Incentive Program, the Modified Stage 2 provisions for public health reporting were among the most controversial when finalized—and remain the most muddled. Amended by a series of CMS FAQs since Final Rules, the 2016 requirements have been significantly eased. Providers now question whether Specialized Registry reporting will become a reality, and some have put off active engagement with Registries until CMS clarifies its direction. What should your path be, and how secure is your exclusion from reporting? Public Health Reporting: Who Is “Public Health”? Public health reporting under Meaningful Use falls into three…
Read More