Health Plans: The Weakest Link in the Value Proposition?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Today’s post comes to mind via a Tweet this morning courtesy of @CraigJCasey who proferred: @2healthguru @pfanderson Occupy common sense, like Don Berwick – confirms Medicare wasting 20-30%!! Go big government, single payer This Tweet is timely mindfulness and context for the wounded politico’s and their aligned think tanks who while not …

ACO or vACe aka virtual Accountable Care enterprise?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH (inspired by Vince Kuraitis) e/n/t/e/r/p/r/i/s/e/ = A business (also known as enterprise or firm) is an organization engaged in the trade of goods, services, or both to consumers… The etymology of “business” relates to the state of being busy either as an individual or society as a whole, doing commercially viable and profitable …

Leavitt Partners: Growth and Dispersion of Accountable Care Organizations

Extract Only: Following the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act’s emphasis on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and the announcement of the Medicare Shared Savings Program, an increased interest has emerged among providers and payers to create ACOs. To date, little has been published regarding the types and locations of organizations adopting principles of accountable care. …

Berwick v. Hatch, Enzi & the Gang of 42. Lunatics 1, America 0

Reprinted in portion below: Berwick’s resignation a signal of a faulty political system via Healthcare Finance News by Stephanie Bouchard WASHINGTON – It came as a surprise to no one that Donald Berwick, MD, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid, would not be carrying on in the position once his term ended on …

CMS Grant Program to Stimulate Public/Private Multi Payor Partnerships

By Gregg A Masters, MPH The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services via the innovation center will award up to $30 million to innovative public/private partnerships, and will likely favor those ventures with multi-payor breath. Via the ‘We Can’t Wait for Innovation Challenge’, a total of $1 billion is intended to stimulate the creative juices …

New Deadlines Announced for Advance Payment Model

Issued by CMS, Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI): Last month, CMS announced a new Advance Payment Model for physician-based and rural Accountable Care Organizations selected to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The selected ACOs will receive advance payments that will be recouped from the shared savings they earn. Organizations interested in …

ACOs and #OccupyHealthcare: Connecting the Dots

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Can you feel it? “There is a great disturbance in the Force” | Emperor Palpatine in The Empire Strikes Back At least two macros have placed this convergence experience in motion: the March 2010 passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, et sequelae (i.e., the final rule on ACOs and the Medicare …

Wal*Mart: RFI ‘Overwritten and Incorrect’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Whoa! Not 24 hours after the Request for Information (RFI) issued by WalMart Health and Wellness directed to it’s ‘strategic partner’ downline hit the street, I mean was leaked to the press, WalMart’s senior management felt compelled to promptly backdown from it’s rational, comprehensive, timely and sensible approach to make …

#occupyhealthcare: Hype or Hope?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Sunday, November 6th 2011 may mark a tipping point in the weak-tied and ‘talk is cheap‘ happy talk often characteristic of episodic and even planned healthcare social media conversations. While a dedicated and passionate community mostly focused on learning, defining, sharing best practices and what constitutes the ‘meaningful use’ of …

Dr. Don Berwick on ACO’s: From Volume to Value

By Donald Berwick, MD Editors Note: Thanks to a tweet today via @AxSys_Health CMS Administrator Don Berwick, M.D., explains ACO’s in plain language. Hi, I’m Don Berwick, CMS administrator. Today’s a kind of red letter day, October 20th 2011. That’s the day in which we launch the Accountable Care Organization final rule and I just …