WASHINGTON -- Accountable care organizations (ACOs) and other players in the healthcare system need to look after patients' non-medical needs if they want their health outcomes to improve, several speakers said Thursday at a briefing on the "Culture of Health" sponsored by Health Affairs.
A recent study in Health Affairs shows that purchased goods and services in healthcare, followed by nurse and physician compensation, were the principal drivers of overall increases in U.S. healthcare spending that reached 72% from 1997 to 2012.
As the window for feedback on physician payment reform closes, physician and specialty groups warn that implementation of an "overly complex system" should not be rushed. In addition, one nurses' organization is protesting being virtually left out of process.
Addressing behavioral health issues in the primary care setting makes sense, and it's time for stakeholders to address and eliminate barriers to integrating mental health and physical health for the sake of patients, the American College of Physicians (ACP) proposed.
Though not terribly specific in terms of practical implementation, the ACP's Health and Public Policy Committee outlined six broad recommendations to bring behavioral health management into the "whole person" approach of primary care medicine, which they published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Use of telemedicine for patient care is appropriate when integrated into the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) model, according to the first ever policy statement on telemedicine by the American Academy of Pediatrics.
James P. Marcin, MD, MPH and colleagues from the AAP Committee on Pediatric Workforce called for use of telemedicine services within the PCMH as a way to expand the quality and efficiencies of patient care and streamline its cost.
In a report released just last week (see this week's "Pelzman's Picks"), the Government Accountability Office (GAO) revealed that the committee that sets relative value units (RVUs), which are a big part of determining the level of pay for physicians in this country, has been working with terrible data, and that there may be conflicts of interest afoot.
PCMH enjoys a sort of 'favored nation' status in new world of Medicare
"If you are not in a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) now, you should be thinking about one."
That was Robert B. Doherty's advice for physicians practicing in the post-SGR world. Doherty, who is senior vice president of government affairs and public policy at the American College of Physicians, shared his views during an ACP press briefing here.
The ACP's Bob Doherty warns of looming funding cuts to vital healthcare programs and services.
Just about everyone in Washington knows that the Medicare SGR formula is about to cut payments to physicians by 21% on April 1, unless Congress overrules it. How many know, though, that primary care physicians are also facing a scheduled Medicare cut of 10% on Jan. 1, 2016, unless Congress overrules it, which would be in addition to the SGR cut? Not too many, I suspect.
PCMHs see slower growth in ED visits, lower payment per beneficiary
Medicare patients being treated in patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) had fewer ED visits than patients not cared for in a PCMH, according to a recent study of primary care practices, federally qualified health centers, and Medicare fee-for-service data.
