- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: Hospital Penalization; New APMs; EHR Challenges
More than 700 hospitals were penalized for having the highest rates of patient injuries; the Physician-focused Payment Technical Advisory Committee backed 2 new alternative payment models; and experts outline the biggest challenges of implementing and maintaining electronic health records going into the new year.
751 Hospitals Penalized for Patient Injuries
The government lowered a year’s worth of Medicare payments to 751 hospitals in response to them having the highest rates of patient injuries. According to Kaiser Health News, half of the hospitals were also penalized last year through the penalty, which began 4 years ago through the Affordable Care Act. The program was created as a financial incentive for hospitals to avert infections and other adverse events such as blood clots and bed sores.
Two New APM Models Gain Approval
The Physician-focused Payment Technical Advisory Committee (PTAC) backed plans for 2 new alternative payment models, recommending them to HHS, reported MedPageToday. The 2 new payment models include a capitated model for primary care and 1 for end-stage renal disease (ESRD). The capitated model, from the American Academy of Family Physicians, was recommended for limited-scale testing, and the episode payment model submitted by the Renal Physicians Association targets the first 6 months of dialysis for ESRD patients.
Biggest EHR Challenges Going into 2018
In an article on Healthcare IT News, experts described the biggest challenges hospitals and health systems will face in 2018 while implementing and maintaining their electronic health records. One expert cited cybersecurity as one of the leading challenges, with large amounts of data being at risk for cybersecurity threats. Other major challenges hospitals and health systems will face in the coming year include continued focus on interoperability, the rise of value-based care in the healthcare industry, and information overload and clinician burnout.
Neurologists Share Tips for Securing Patient Access to Gene Therapies
March 19th 2025Tenacious efforts at every level, from the individual clinician to the hospital to the state to Congress, will be needed to make sure patients can access life-saving gene therapies for neuromuscular diseases.
Read More
Varied Access: The Pharmacogenetic Testing Coverage Divide
February 18th 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the author of a study published in the February 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® to uncover significant differences in coverage decisions for pharmacogenetic tests across major US health insurers.
Listen
The Impact of Cost Sharing on High-Value Care
March 14th 2025Michael Chernew, PhD, professor of health care policy and director of the Healthcare Markets and Regulation Lab, Harvard Medical School, shares how cost-sharing policies shape access to critical health care services and influence value-based insurance design.
Read More
