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Medicare ACO’s

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Coalition’s ideas for boosting care of patients with chronic conditions

 

The National Coalition on Health Care recommends that to  improve care of patients with chronic conditions in Medicare Advantage, Medicare ACOs and other plans:

  • Congress should pass legislation to encourage health plans and ACOs to invest program dollars in targeted social and long-term services and supports.
  • Integration of mental-health and primary-care settings should be promoted.
  • A Medicaid prospective payment system for community behavioral- health clinics should meet high standards of care and  coordinate and deliver both primary care and behavioral-health services to their patients.
  • That patient-centered care should especially be encouraged when chronic disease evolves into serious or advanced illness.
  • Palliative-care options should always be available  and made known to patients.

For the whole report, hit this link.


Detailing better care quality with Medicare ACOs

 

CMS has detailed better care quality with Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs)

“Many of these ACOs are demonstrating that they can deliver a higher level of coordinated care that leads to healthier people and smarter spending,” said CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt in a press release that accompanied the detailed report on ACO performance in 2014.

Among the Pioneer ACOs, the report found “strong improvement” on three significant measures from 2013 to 2014:

  • “Medication reconciliation” grew  to  84 percent from 70 percent.
  • “Screening for clinical depression and follow-up plan” jumped  to 60 percent from 50 percent.
  • “Qualification for an electronic health record incentive payment” rose to 86 from 77 percent

 

 


5 changes to make Medicare ACO’s succeed

 

This HealthAffairs blog discusses five changes needed if Medicare ACO’s are to achieve their potential:

 

As the three authors ”have learned through six years of experience with our ACO Learning Network, the process of becoming and implementing an ACO is often cumbersome and uncertain.”

The demands vary from ACO to ACO but all of them need to:

Create Greater Certainty For Program Participants.

Establish an Achievable Transition Path Away From Fee-for-Service Payment.

 

Engage Patients.

Align MSSP With Other Medicare Payment Programs.

Take Lessons From Commercial ACO’s.

 


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