A Fork in the Road: ACOs vs. Direct Practice?

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH In the run up to the passage of the Affordable Care Act (select milestones here), the Senate Finance Committee under the leadership of Chairman Max Baucus presided over a comical volume of amendments proffered by his colleagues on the other side of the isle, see: ‘Senate Democrats Lead Historic Passage …

‘Non-Profit IDNs’: Where’s Da Beef?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH I have followed this narrative for quite some time albeit inside the industry contained debate of whether so-called ‘non-profit’ [501(c)3] hospitals or their parent systems (really more aptly characterized as “tax exempt”) actually earn this financial advantage via material ‘returns’ to the communities they serve. As can be expected you …

Announcing the Launch of ‘PopHealth Week’

By Fred Goldstein This week Gregg Masters (@2healthguru) and I (@fsgoldstein), along with Doug Goldstein (@eFuturist) are announcing the launch of PopHealth Week. This is a weekly Internet radio podcast (typically broadcast at 12 pm Eastern each Wednesday) with an associated website at www.pophealthweek.com. We intend to focus on all things population health. Our shows will feature 1) people, topics, …

Is Evolent Health the ‘New, New’ Healtheon?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH There are parallels worth considering! But first for those who’s event horizons’ don’t reach back to the Healtheon era (mid to late 1990’s) a little history may help with the construction of this narrative. Perhaps the dots are optimally connected by the talented and best selling author Michael Lewis in his book …

An ACO Update via Leavitt Partners

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Just released is the continuing pulse of the accountable care industry (not just ACOs per se) via the consulting firm branded with the imprimatur of a former Secretary of HHS Michael Leavitt who opines from the Red State of Utah on the progress made by market driven initiatives outlined in …

Value Based Care: what we can learn from those who succeeded (and failed) in Year 1 of the Medicare Shared Savings Program?

By Randall Williams, MD* “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” — Albert Einstein If you want to lead your organization to success with value based care, I’d like to help you avoid the mistake of committing organizational insanity. As I’ve written before, all value …

The Medicare Shared (ACO) Savings Program – A Tale of Transition

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH In pursuit of the no longer optional ‘triple aim‘ and as once suggested by industry innovator Richard Merkin, MD the founder and CEO of Heritage Provider Network, the ‘gold’ in the ACA may be the programs and outreach of the CMMI. But we’re not obsessed with acronym’s in healthcare, right? So …

Three Days in Scottsdale: Unbundling the Triple Aim?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH With the simultaneous running of the 6th Annual mHealth Summit (follow #mhealth14), Population Health Alliance [PHA] Forum (follow #PHAforum) and Institute for Healthcare Improvement [IHI] (follow #IHI26Forum) I am reminded of the oft quoted Don Berwick, the then Administrator for CMS channeling from his tenure in healthcare both as a clinician and …

Brookings: ‘Big Issues for ACOs Going Forward’

On October 20, 2014 the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform hosted a half day forum to assess the latest evidence on accountable care, discuss strategies to overcome unique ACO challenges, and provide an overview of accountable care reforms. Panel participants included:

Population Health, Social Determinants & the ‘All Hands on Deck’ Race to Matter

by Gregg A. Masters, MPH Population Health Alliance (PHA) Executive Director and current Board Chair Fred Goldstein and I just finished chatting with Rain Henderson, the CEO of the Clinton Health Matters Initiative (CHMI) a project of the Clinton Global Foundation. Rain covered quite a bit of ground from the mission of the Foundation to it’s …