Health System

Seema Sonnad, PhD, associate editor for The American Journal of Managed Care, and director of Health Services Research at The Value Institute at Christiana Care Health System, led a panel discussion that focused on oncology clinical pathway adherence.

Leonard Fromer, MD, executive medical director, group practice forum and assistant clinical professor, Department of Family Medicine, University of California, says that proactivity and community collaboration are the best tools to aid transitions of care programs in new care delivery models.

Despite reform and shifts in health policy, the United States healthcare system ranked last in quality compared with 10 other industrialized counties-just as it did in 2010, 2007, 2006, and 2004.

An analysis examining Medicare data found that the number of elderly beneficiaries receiving narcotic painkillers and anti-anxiety medications drastically increased from 2007 to 2012.

New studies suggest that privately insured patients may receive better cancer care than Medicaid beneficiaries. Although a variety of factors impact patient access to cancer treatment, low-income patients were found to have greater difficulty with navigating health systems.

Health insurance exchanges continue to be a work in progress, at least for several states that are facing ongoing challenges. In particular, 5 states-Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, and Oregon-estimate that it will cost $240 million to fix their existing exchanges, or to transition to using the federal exchange.

There are rumblings that federal lawmakers may be willing to repeal Medicare's burdensome rule requiring physicians in critical access hospitals to make an educated guess that the patients they're admitting will be either discharged or transferred in less than four days.

Advocates for a single-payer Medicare for all health system are fanning out across Capitol Hill this week, lobbying members of Congress.

Across the country, a historically fragmented hospital market is organizing around a select group of for-profit and not-for-profit systems. And that means competition has increased for fewer acquisition targets that still remain on the market.

The bundled payment model encourages health systems to provide high quality, better-coordinated care at a lower cost for Medicare beneficiaries. It's no wonder, then, why the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has developed a colonoscopy bundled payment model to help gastroenterologists achieve value-based health outcomes.

Patients want physicians to provide high-quality care and the health system requires good value for physician work. To help gastroenterologists achieve these goals, the American Gastroenterological Association (AGA) has developed a colonoscopy bundled payment model.

Some health systems are moving beyond surgery in serving back pain patients.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan has expanded its value-based hospital reimbursement model with 5 more health systems in the state, representing 24 hospitals, for a total of 7 systems.

If a recent Black Book survey of payers, hospitals, and physicians turns out to be true, then the number of public health information exchanges (HIEs) is likely to dwindle in the years ahead.

David Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director, American College of Surgeons (ACS), says the 4 pillars are based on 100 years of setting standards for healthcare.

The state of Maryland is announcing a new initiative with the federal government to modernize the state's unique rate-setting system for hospital services.

State governments have a unique opportunity to transform the current health care system into one that provides higher-quality care at lower costs.

Steven D. Shapiro, MD, executive vice president, chief medical and science officer, University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, says healthcare reform's biggest benefit is that it is leading care from a system that is volume based to one that is value based.

David B. Hoyt, MD, FACS, executive director, American College of Surgeons (ACS), says their National Surgical Improvement Program is designed to help hospitals evaluate where they stand with certain complications, and to then help them through a series of techniques to improve the care around those complications.

A new study by researchers at the UCLA Fielding School of Public Health and McGill University in Montreal reveals that the United States health care system ranks 22nd out of 27 high-income nations when analyzed for its efficiency of turning dollars spent into extending lives.

Chris Belmont, vice president and chief information officer, MD Anderson Cancer Center, says that health systems like Ochsner are using data to validate what they already know about certain patient cases.

Palliative care adapted to specific high-risk patients' needs can reduce emergency room visits, improve overall care and drive down healthcare costs, but the current policy and practice framework presents numerous obstacles to its implementation.

Ora Pescovitz, MD, CEO of the Michigan Health System, says that academic medical centers like those at the University of Michigan are among those in the lead with patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs).

Take a mental snapshot of the U.S. health care system as it is today, because in 10 years, you might not recognize it. And if something isn't done now to boost the number of doctors in the U.S., you may not like it, either.

Hospitals spend less on operations-largely by squeezing labor costs-to make up for lost revenue when Medicare cuts hospital prices, according to a study.

The merger wave sweeping up Massachusetts hospitals and doctors threatens to increase health care prices and widen the payment gap between providers, according to warnings from industry leaders, health insurers, and regulators at a hearing Wednesday.

Optimizing the length of stay at a hospital is critical to patient health outcomes, and more importantly, controlling healthcare costs.

Seven systems that include 25 hospitals in New Jersey and Eastern Pennsylvania have formed an alliance to build expertise in population health management and capitalize on economies of scale without the complications of merging assets.

Access to affordable, quality healthcare for poor Americans varies dramatically among the states, according to a new study that found a wide disparity in measures of health between states with the best healthcare systems and those with the worst.

Patrick Courneya, MD, CHIE, health plan medical director, HealthPartners, Inc, says that his organization sees a wide variety of models in Minnesota.