With the ongoing expansion of value-based arrangements, payers are seeking innovative initiatives to support providers in delivering the highest quality care for their most challenging members in both acute care and outpatient settings. Ensuring the effective use of resources for these members requires a holistic view of the member, which is a significant challenge in today’s fragmented and time-constrained healthcare delivery system.
The Obama administration is poised to fundamentally change how we pay for health care in this country. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has set a goal that by 2018 half of Medicare’s payments to health care providers will be based on the quality of the care delivered, not the number of services provided. Critics often fault the existing fee-for-service system for rewarding doctors for performing more procedures, and HHS wants to change that.
The current fee-for-service model of primary care delivery in the United States is outdated and wreaking havoc on the foundation of our healthcare system. This model will be phased out over the next decade in favor of value-based reimbursement (among other changes). Residency programs, however, are often based on the old model of care and, consequently, are not prepared to train residents for the future models of care. In order to address this deficiency, residency-training collaboratives have been popping up around the country.
Through the medical home model, practices seek to improve the quality, effectiveness, and efficiency of the care they deliver while responding to each patient’s unique needs and preferences. Leveraging embedded practice coaches in the medical home is transforming patient care at the point of care.
The National Center for Medical Home Implementation (NCMHI) is hosting the first webinar in a three part series focusing on implementation and evaluation of pediatric care coordination. This webinar will outline clinical guidelines and identify strategies and resources to help facilitate the implementation of care coordination in practice. Faculty will provide real life examples of successful care coordination and highlight outcomes for patients and families on the receiving end of care coordination services.
This free Webcast from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will highlight success stories from Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) plans that have scored above the 80th percentile across all core measures in the CAHPS Health Plan Survey. Two top-performing health plans will share how they have achieved high patient experience scores in the areas of access to care, communication with doctors, member information and customer service, and overall health plan ratings.
As integrated care evolves as a foundation for health care design, quality and value, we must remain attentive to behavioral health workforce development needs. Join this webinar discussion on training and education from three perspectives – community provider, federal agency and area health education center (AHEC) – on everything from building community relationships for education and training to providing orientation programs for students and trainees and matching trainees with field sites.
A National Webinar on Patient-Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) and the Use of Decision Aids to Facilitate Shared Decision Making
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) will host a webinar on March 18, 2015, to discuss how patient-centered outcomes research (PCOR) findings can be used to facilitate shared decision making.
Patients want care that helps them manage their health and achieve their goals. Medical practices are working to improve care and patient health, and to meet patient needs. Several communities participating in the Aligning Forces for Quality (AF4Q) initiative are leading the way in medical practices engaging patients in efforts to improve care. To capture and disseminate the lessons from these communities, AF4Q supported the creation of a patient-engagement toolkit.
