Quality Of Care

How Can Providers Establish Successful Accountable Care Organizations?

February 29, 2024 - Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a common way healthcare providers can transition from fee-for-service to value-based care delivery. In ACOs, providers come together to deliver quality coordinated care to patients while usually taking on some of the financial risk. Providers must have the right mindset to care for patients and the capabilities to support their goals to...


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Overcoming the Barriers to Value-Based Payment in Primary Care

by Victoria Bailey

Primary care is arguably the most critical component of our healthcare system. Primary care and preventive medicine can help avert and manage chronic diseases and prevent long-term complications. However, efforts to improve primary care...

Primary Care Model Did Not Reduce Healthcare Spending or Improve Care

by Victoria Bailey

The CMS Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) model was not associated with reduced healthcare expenditures or care quality improvements, a study published in JAMA found. CMS launched the five-year...

NC Attorney General Sues HCA After Quality of Care Complaints

by Jacqueline LaPointe

North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein is suing HCA Healthcare for failing to comply with an asset purchase agreement it executed when it purchased Mission Health System in 2019. The case alleges...

Care Quality, Physician Autonomy Lower at Corporate-Owned Practices

by Victoria Bailey

Changes in physician practice ownership resulted in lower patient care quality and poorer patient-provider relationships, according to a survey from NORC at the University of Chicago, commissioned by...

High Nursing Home Staff Turnover Yields Poorer Care Quality

by Victoria Bailey

Higher staff turnover in nursing homes was associated with lower care quality, a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine revealed. Staff and administrator turnover in nursing homes can disrupt...

Study Can’t Link Hospital Competition to Quality Improvements

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A study out of the University of Michigan cannot identify a clear relationship between surgical outcomes and the level of competition a hospital faces. The study recently published in JAMA Surgery...

Independent Hospital Acquisitions Tied to Higher Healthcare Prices

by Victoria Bailey

Independent hospital acquisitions led to higher healthcare prices for consumers and poorer care quality, a report from Elevance Health revealed. Health systems are increasingly acquiring independent...

How Beneficiary Preferences Can Impact Hospital VBP Payment Incentives

by Victoria Bailey

If the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) program value weights were based on Medicare beneficiary preferences, nearly $86 million in payment incentives would be reallocated and smaller rural...

Study: Hospital Spends $5M Per Year on Quality Reporting

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Quality reporting is now a core function in healthcare, enabling value-based payment, transparency and accountability, and provider comparisons, to name a few benefits. However, quality data...

BJC, Saint Luke’s Announce Plans to Form Integrated Health System

by Victoria Bailey

BJC HealthCare of St. Louis (BJC) and Saint Luke’s Health System of Kansas City (Saint Luke’s) have signed a letter of intent to merge and form an integrated health system to improve...

Quality, Costs of Care Similar Between DOs and MDs

by Jacqueline LaPointe

A new study demonstrates that doctors of osteopathic medicine, or DOs, have similar patient outcomes and costs of care to doctors of medicine (MDs). Patient mortality rates, hospital readmissions, and...

Home Health Value-Based Purchasing Model Lowered Medicare Spending

by Victoria Bailey

The Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model reduced Medicare spending by $1.38 billion and improved care quality during its first six years, according to a report from CMS. The CMS Innovation...

Clinician-Owned Practices Improve Quality Without the Burnout

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Workplace cultural and structural factors in clinician-owned practices that result in lower levels of staff burnout may also enable quality of care improvements, according to a recent study in JAMA...

How CMMI Value-Based Care Models Have Impacted Costs, Quality

by Victoria Bailey

Many value-based care models have helped generate savings, reduce costs, and improve care quality, but models must incorporate health equity and clinical outcomes to achieve true value for all,...

Patients Face Higher Healthcare Spending, Prices at Health Systems

by Victoria Bailey

Health systems delivered the majority of medical care in 2018, ranking high on clinical quality and patient experience measures. However, prices were steeper, and consumer spending was higher for those...

Aggressive Medical Debt Collection, Other Proposed Never Events

by Jacqueline LaPointe

Hospitals work hard to avoid “never events,” or serious, largely preventable, and harmful events identified by the National Quality Forum (NQF). These never events include performing...

CMS Increases Oversight Policies for Low-Performing Nursing Homes

by Victoria Bailey

The Biden-Harris Administration has updated oversight policies for the Special Focus Facility (SFF) program in an effort to improve the quality and safety of low-performing nursing...

ED-ICU Model Maintains ED Costs, Improves Value of Healthcare Delivery

by Victoria Bailey

Total cost per emergency department (ED) patient encounter remained unchanged at an academic medical center after it implemented an emergency department-based intensive care unit (ED-ICU), indicating...

Physician Practice Costs Grew 20% After Private Equity Acquisition

by Victoria Bailey

Private equity acquisition of physician practices in dermatology, gastroenterology, and ophthalmology was associated with increased healthcare spending and utilization, according to a study published...