A Tale of Two Cities: The Worst of Times or the Best of Times? L.A. v. San Diego

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Comparing and contrasting healthcare markets or their essential component parts can be a perilous board room exercise if the intent is to make sense of strategy options, that inform enterprise or entity choice, and meaningfully benchmark forward progress. In pursuit of the ‘triple aim’: better experience of care, improved population …

‘The ACO Must…’ Towards an Operational Definition of ‘Patient Engagement’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH In the realm of stuff we need to do and sometimes clouded by either ad copy or less than straightforward guru guidance cutting through the clutter can sometimes be confused by the words ‘may’, ‘should’ or other less obligatory statements. For instance: M/U/S/T | a verb |to: be commanded or …

JP Morgan Healthcare Conference Unbundled: Something for Everyone?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH The 31st annual get together of biotech, pharma and an eclectic litany of publically held healthcare company and many impressive tax exempt health system peeps was my first albeit from a somewhat disadvantaged, i.e., ‘crasher’, status. Yet, in the overall program mix there seemed to be something for everybody from …

And the Circle Grows! CMS Announces Another Round of ACOs

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Industry watchers have to be impressed by the announcement from CMS today that effectively doubles the ACO count from prior reported totals. Is it just me, or can you can sense the subtle shift in market sentiment from skepticism to loss of first mover opportunity in one’s market. For the list of …

JP Morgan Healthcare Conference 2013

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH We’re here in the ‘city by the bay’ for the 31st annual assembly of biotech and pharma peeps and the money they seek from the venture capital world. Not exactly my tribe, but my interest was sparked by the generous ‘non profit track’ with many nameplate integrated delivery systems in …

Standing Up the ACO: Lessons from South Park?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH On Sunday I was chatting with a friend in the biz and the conversation turned to ACOs, wherein he whimsically laughed and then relayed a story from a recent California Medical Association (CMA) sponsored event on health reform, the future of medicine and Accountable Care Organizations, wherein one of the …

New England Healthcare Institute (NEHI) ACO Innovation Summit

November 27th, 2012 [Editor’s note: portions of broadcast present with low audio]. NEHI Summit Explores Innovations In the Emerging ACO Landscape The opportunities – and the challenges – presented by the rapid movement towards Accountable Care Organizations were the subject of a recent NEHI summit that drew perspectives from across health care: “I think ACOs …

Accountable Care: It’s Growth, Complexity, Prevalence and Promise?

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH From Leavitt Partners. a webinar held on November 8th, 2012. The focus is on ACOs, and represents an update post elections from their previous reporting here.

A/C/O: ‘Another Compromised Organization’ or ‘A Coordinated Orchestra?’

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Last Friday I moderated the HealthIT social media focused tweetchat tagged ‘#HITsm’, see context piece here, and transcript here. The theme centered on the value or centrality of HealthIT to ACO success. The conversation was lively (for additional context, ACO surprise provides metrics on dispersion and penetration into Medicare and commercial markets), and …

None of the Ransomed Ever Knew How Deep Were the Waters Crossed

By Gregg A. Masters, MPH Ah yes, those ‘white waters’ of health reform or more aptly put ‘transformation’ (you know, the triple aim thingy). As more has been revealed, I offer a quasi ‘mea culpa’ of sorts… Light years ago, or so it seems, as I began at least the blogging portion of my social …