FTC v. OSF Healthcare

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH One of the more popular downsides associated with the growth and dispersion of ACOs in provider [primarily of the ‘institutional variety’ aka hospital/health system] consolidation and asset concentration, is the risk of anti-competitive pricing leverage. You know, the ‘my way or the highway’ approach of certain providers with near or actual …

Accountable Care and Social Media: Can it connect the silo’s?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH In an article posted on KevinMD by the always learned and insightful George Lundberg, MD*, the question was posed: can ACO’s re-invent the American Health Care System? A rather compelling and timely question given the fragmentation and vertical silo’s characteristic of American health care finance and delivery, and the ‘patient-centric’ enhancements …

SCOTUS, ACA & ‘Mis-informed’ Justices

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH As suggested yesterday while ‘the case has been submitted’ per Chief Justice Roberts upon conclusion of Day 3 oral arguments over the constitutional challenges to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the war to shape the national narrative is well underway. The blogosphere is ripe with buzz over the …

The Affordable Care Act: Day 3 at SCOTUS

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH It’s deja vu all over again! The theater circa 2010 at the Senate Finance Committee via the reconciliation process that delivered unto us the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the framework enabling the accountable care industry, is in play again this time at the Supreme Court of the United …

Aetna teams with Hoag Orthopedic on bundled payment initiative

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Leveraging up from the Integrated Healthcare Association’s (IHA) work (and others) in the bundled payment domain, @Aetna announced yesterday that in association with partner health information technology vendor @McKesson_HIT, their work with Hoag Orthopedic Hospital (aka @HoagOrthopedic) in Newport Beach, California. Bundled payment a child of the DRG payment system and long …

They Shoot Horses’ Don’t They?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Some may remember the movie ‘They Shoot Horses’ Don’t They‘ [caution: a rather graphic depiction of an exit]. The plot borrowing from the humane ‘taking them out of their misery’ [post injury] if you will, albeit in the context of certain determined dance partners ‘desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon and the …

Bundled Payment: A Gateway to Accountable Care?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Advisory Board senior consultant and talented speaker (I might add), recently penned a blog post titled: ‘Bundled Payment: A Stepping Stone for ACO’s? I Don’t Buy It.’ I read this well constructed piece, but came to a rather different conclusion. In his set up Rob posits: As I have previously …

A 6th Difference Between ACOs and “AC-Like” Arrangements

By Vince Kuraitis The post originally appeared on the e-caremanagement blog. Last week I wrote about five key differences between formal ACOs (mainly care providers contracting with Medicare)  and informal Accountable Care-Like (AC-Like) arrangements between care providers and commercial health plans. Transaction costs Timing Incrementalism Flexibility Capital cost There’s an important  6th  difference worth noting: Visibility Formal …

Physicians Surveyed Gloomy About Healthcare Reform

By Patricia Salber Editor’s Note: Article originally published at The Doctor Weighs In. Recently, The Doctors Company, aka @doctorscompany, the country’s largest insurer of physician and surgeon medical liability, decided to survey doctors to determine what they are thinking and feeling about health reform.  The results are pretty gloomy. To put this in context, it is important to understand …

AMGA 2012: The complete ‘digital footprint’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH The synopsis tweeted is pasted below: Final ‘digital footprint’ for #AMGA12: Reached 66,842 peeps via 273 tweets & an exposure of 638,735 impressions The trade group arguably representing a majority of forward thinking and innovation oriented, in terms of the active exploration of what and how accountable care business models can be articulated, …