CMS has issued a request for information on new primary care models and how health IT can contribute to these new models of care delivery.
This is part of a wider push by the agency to test new care-delivery models (like patient-centered medical homes) to achieve some of its key goals: improving care of patients with complex needs, encouraging "more comprehensive" primary care delivery, "facilitat[ing] robust connections to the medical neighborhood and community-based services," and, of course, shifting revenue cycles away from encounter-based FFS towards value-based, "population-based" care.
Specifically, CMS asked "what transformative changes" would allow providers to use HIT to coordinate care between providers; engage patients; manage and prioritize clinical data; measure and improve quality; and manage population health through a team-based approach, a patient-based data framework, an "interoperable electronic care plan" and "robust care management tools."
Here are the biggest stories in the healthcare industry this week:
5 common hospital practices you think help but don't
Some protocols have a reputation for cutting costs and improving outcomes that they may not deserve.
Can physician-led ACOs keep physicians independent?
The new partnership between the Texas Medical Association and BCBS has been widely misreported as an ACO but in fact has a much broader scope.
Top 10 EHR vendors in physician offices
What vendor is a giant in the inpatient market and way down the list in the practice setting?
UPMC cuts 410 beds as admissions drop
The hospital claims that the cuts are par for the course.
Daughters of Charity ads claim patients will 'die' without Prime acquisition
Experts say that the hospital will stay open with or without Prime's involvement. What motivated this desperate political strategy?
And here's what we were reading:
In addition to this amazing health insurance-themed New Yorker cartoon, here are some of the best healthcare tweets of the week.
From @roblazerow, four great concluding thoughts to the #futurehc15 summit. pic.twitter.com/rK1F9Ka4lC
— Dan Diamond (@ddiamond) February 18, 2015
At this point, I think there may be as many organizations founded to promote HC interoperability as there are HC orgs w/data to share...
— David Shaywitz (@DShaywitz) February 17, 2015
.@SecBurwell says HHS is considering a special enrollment period for people facing tax penalties. Decision will be announced in next 2 weeks
— Margot Sanger-Katz (@sangerkatz) February 18, 2015
Do the plaintiffs in King have standing to sue?, by @nicholas_bagley - http://t.co/8cfjZmgFDB
— Incidental Economist (@IncidentalEcon) February 16, 2015