BHM Services
ACO Prescription: Cure or Disease? Infographic
We would love to hear your opinions on ACOs - the good, the bad, and the ugly. What successes have you achieved? What issues have arisen? How are ACOs seen from a patient perspective?
A Three Pronged Approach to Organizational Analysis
When was the last time your organization performed a SWOT analysis? If you aren’t familiar with SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats) it’s a widely used strategy in many industries, not just healthcare, for identifying areas for improvement. You can break SWOT down even further: Strengths: What sets your hospital apart from all the rest? What can you offer that makes you competitive? Weaknesses: What puts your hospital and employees at a disadvantage compared to other hospitals? What of these factors can you change? Opportunities: How can you show your strengths to others? Threats: What could cause big trouble for your hospital or employees?
ACOs vs Bundled Payments – Can Either Save Healthcare?
Everyone in healthcare knows that something’s got to give - it’s not a matter of “if” but “when” - and to some extent, how? In the arena of change, two major payment players, ACOs and Bundled Payments, are fighting to become the savior of American healthcare. Chances are you’ve already heard plenty about the former; accountable care is the hot topic of the year. Not only has it made headlines, but it’s been the topic of industry wide webinars and education.
Will Medicare Cover Telehealth?
No doubt that in the coming years, telehealth will become a fundamental part of how doctors diagnose and treat patients. Of major concern for both providers and patients is, if this new technology becomes commonplace, who will pay for it? Telehealth, like most medical interventions, isn’t cheap. In order to have computer systems that can be used for teleconferencing, as well as the HIPAA compliant programs for videos [editor’s note: of which Skype is not]. Then, of course, after the initial purchasing costs come the costs of implementation, the cost of training and the cost of ongoing maintenance of the programs and systems.
5 ED Throughput Measures Your ED Needs to Face Ebola
In the light of the first-ever confirmed Ebola case in the United States, questions of procedure and preparedness are humming throughout all fifty states. The patient, a Liberian man who had left Africa and arrived in Texas before symptoms began, has become the center of media attention this week. So to, has the Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital become something of a media darling - in so far as they are being heavily scrutinized.
One Year Since CMS Cracked Down on Readmissions | Where Are We Now?
October 1st of last year, CMS cracked down on readmission rates for hospitals nationwide, handing out millions of dollars in penalties. The Affordable Care Act put these measures into place in order to curb the problem of readmissions, which are not only costly, but reflect an overall poor population health in the U.S. - especially for those patients with chronic conditions. For FY ‘14, 2% was withheld from payments per the guidelines for penalties. By 2015, the rate of withholding for penalties is expected to top 3%. In addition to the higher payments, there will also be additional diagnoses included in the readmission criteria list - it began with heart attacks, pneumonia and heart failure and will now expand to include COPD and complications from chronic lung conditions.
2-Midnight Rule Continues to Confuse
It’s been almost a year since CMS’ final ruling on the Inpatient Prospective Payment System went into effect and in that twelve month period there have been several additions made regarding conditions of payment and certifications. In case you need a refresher, the “2-Midnight Rule” is frequently talked about in healthcare and refers to criteria for determining if a patient should be classified as an admission or observation status for coding and billing purposes. While the level of treatment may not necessarily seem different from the patient’s perspective, there are subtle differences that are extremely important to how the account is coded and ultimately billed for. It also needs to be explicitly documented with intention as an inpatient admission in the patient’s chart.
The Doctor Will Skype You Now | Changing How We Go to the Doctor
With flu season upon us, healthcare providers and patients alike are gearing up for a busy time of year in the office. As office schedulers know, trying to accommodate all the patients a doctor needs to see in a given day is tricky enough without the added stress of flu season - when doctors are likely to need to see even more patients and hospitals will no doubt see an uptick in admissions and emergency room visits.
Don’t Like the Sound of ACOs? Here is an Alternative
Most experts agree that it’s still too early yet to know for sure if ACOs will succeed, but many who are poised for its failure have started designing alternatives. One of them seems a little counter-intuitive: Non-Payment.
Top 5 Reasons Physicians Are Unhappy
Research completed by Jackson Healthcare yielded an incredibly array of data on physician satisfaction. While healthcare is increasingly interested and motivated to obtain and analyze patient satisfaction, perhaps not enough attention is being paid to provider satisfaction. According to the data, which assessed not just provider disatisfaction, but also satisfaction, it might behoove the healthcare industry to keep an eye on physician happiness, too.