[Re-post] The ‘Medical Aggregators’: Are We Entering Round Deux?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH [Originally written by @2healthguru on June 1, 2010 at 11:00 AM] First a little historical context: For those with a healthcare ‘event horizon’ slightly more seasoned than the current health reform ‘conversation’, you might remember the initial round of aggregation in medicine lead by disruptive nameplates such as MedPartners (now …

ACO’s: It Ain’t Just About ‘Health IT’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH We’ve been somewhat on an unexpected hiatus since HiMSS 2012 in Las Vegas, but are now back with intent to assimilate and interpret the subtext or tea leaves driving the transformation towards accountable care. I will leave that update to another blog post, but for now, a quick comment on …

Accenture: Making the Case for Connected Health

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Great timing and contextually rich, Accenture released their report ‘Making the Case for Connected Health’ with some surprising observations to some, including this blogger. For the complete report, click here. To recap, the major findings include: Connected health is a must. Governments around the world see connected health as a …

Accountable Care and HiMSS 2012

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH On the Wednesday, February 15th 2012 broadcast at 11AM Pacific/2PM Eastern, my special guest on the HIMSS 2012 Countdown Series was Vince Kuraitis,  aka @VinceKuraitis, publisher of the ‘e-care Management blog.We spoke on the connection between ‘HIT Platforms and accountable care.’ We’re one week out from the HIMSS 2012 conference …

CLOUD (Consortium for Local Ownership and Use of Data) Inc CEO on ‘N of 1 Accountable Care’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH On the Friday, February 10th, 2012 broadcast of ‘This Week in Accountable Care’ I had the pleasure of chatting with Gary Lee Thompson, aka @GaryLeeThompson, and @CLOUDhealth on Twitter. As the second installment in our HIMSS 2012 countdown to Las Vegas, we spent some time getting to know Gary, understanding …

Wag The Dog: Will Subacute Providers Drive Upstream Innovation?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH One of the more interesting and perhaps developing trends to watch in fledgling accountable care enterprises or ACOs is the blueprint adopted for their chosen pathways towards integration (clinical, economic or legal). Since all healthcare is [hyper] local and, once you’ve seen an ACO, you’ve seen one ACO its vital …

AHIP: It’s Not Cost Shifting, We’re ‘Unleashing Patients’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Seriously folks, you’ve got to hand it to the PR firm supplying the American Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) with the brilliant, timely and thematically near argument resistant messaging copy just revealed via a .PPT preso titled ‘Health Care Innovation in the Context of Rising Health Care Costs‘ and delivered by Karen Ignani, …

Rebuttal and Comment to ‘NYT Op Ed: Emanuel Editorial is Irresponsible and Naive’

By Vince Kuraitis Zeke Emanuel’s editorial in the New York Times — The End of Health Insurance Companies — really got my blood boiling. It’s irresponsible and naive. Former Obama advisor Emanuel “predicts”: By 2020, the American health insurance industry will be extinct. Insurance companies will be replaced by accountable care organizations — groups of …

Monarch HealthCare: Leveraging Expertise in Population Health Management

A Case Study in the Brookings–Dartmouth ACO Pilot Program This case study examines the progress that Monarch HealthCare, a physician led independent practice association in Orange County, California, has made in its efforts to become accountable for the quality and overall cost of care for its patient population. Monarch HealthCare is one of the provider …

Miss Commonwealth Fund Webinar on ACOs?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH If you did, do yourself a favor and watch the recorded broadcast ‘ACO Formation: Leading the Transition to New Models of Care‘, here. My net take away from the event is total optimism that the clearer thinking brain trust who understand, ‘failure is not an option’ for a healthcare conundrum …