Accountable Care
Healthcare's revenue cycle management processes are undergoing lightning-fast change on many different fronts: "Providers are now, in earnest, starting to grasp how quickly this paradigm shift is occurring."
The American Academy of Family Physicians has entered into an agreement with HealthFusion to offer HealthFusion's software to its 120,900 family physician members.
Half of primary care physicians across the country view the increasing use of quality-of-care metrics and penalties for unnecessary hospitalizations as potentially troubling for patient care.
In an industry under pressure to contain costs and improve outcomes, big data is proving to be a valuable asset. But data alone can't move the needle. It's all about how it's analyzed to drive smarter decisions.
Rishi Sikka, MD, SVP, Clinical Transformation at Advocate Health Care, emphasizes why the intersection of big data and population health is so important for controlling costs and to improve health and wellness.
"Population health" is a term that is widely used in healthcare, but not universally understood. Various definitions emphasize outcomes, measurement or accountability. So what does population health truly mean?
There are as many definitions for the phrase as there are people willing to address the question. But within those are some common characteristics that can be boiled down for further understanding.
Chicago's Advocate Health Care has 13 hospitals and one of the largest accountable care organizations in the U.S. With population health management at the center of ACO success, it is well acquainted with using analytics for quality improvement.
Dick Daniels, who took the reins as Kaiser Permanente's executive vice president and chief information officer this February, explains how IT is a principle means by which KP's institutional goals are met.
The market for technology aimed at closing gaps in patient care is set for big growth in the next five years, as vendors aim to "smooth the pain points associated with transitioning from fee-for-service."