Measuring Quality for Person-Centered Accountable Care

New payment and delivery system models for Medicare, Medicaid and private coverage rely on accurate quality measures to improve care for patients. The Alliance held an in-depth briefing on what it means to design “person-centered” quality measures, and how the patient perspective can be used to improve how care is delivered to patients with complex needs.

Health Care for Veterans: Where Things Stand & Next Steps

This briefing provided an introduction to the VA health system, presented an overview of how the VA acts as both provider and purchaser of care, and discussed policy prospects for the future. Speakers also assessed the potential for increased collaboration between civilian care and VA providers to meet the needs of today’s veterans and those of the future.

Assessing Innovations in Medicaid

Medicaid is testing numerous new alternative payment and delivery system models to enhance the coordination of the health care services provided to millions of low-income Americans. This briefing examined the range of Medicaid’s efforts to improve care and promote value, including integrating health with non-clinical and behavioral services, creating managed care organizations, and instituting regional care collaborative organizations. Our panel also addressed Medicaid’s role in managing emerging issues such as the opioid epidemic and the spread of the Zika virus.

High-Need, High-Cost Patients: Challenges & Promising Models

Health systems have applied many innovative new strategies for improving quality and reducing costs when it comes to care for high-need, high-cost patients, who typically have multiple chronic conditions. Which of these innovations show promise, and what can we learn from them?

MACRA: Stakeholder Considerations and Next Steps

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently closed the public comment period for its proposed rule to implement the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). This means that Medicare will soon change its payment system for physicians, and there could be broad implications for physicians, health systems, health plans, consumers and others.

Briefing for Reporters on MACRA & Medicare Payments

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) closed on June 27 the public comment period for its proposed rule implementing the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA). This means that Medicare will soon change its payment system to emphasize value over volume, and physicians caring for Medicare patients will need to make decisions about how to adapt their practices to the new incentives.

Patrick Conway on Medicare Payment Demos

CMS’s Patrick Conway will meet with reporters May 4th to answer questions about recent developments in ACOs, bundled payments and other Medicare payment demonstrations. He’ll also discuss a recently-announced demo, Comprehensive Primary Care Plus, which could bring more flexibility to 20,000 primary care physicians, and may cover services such as telemedicine.

Medicare Payment System Reforms: What Do We Know?

Medicare is testing new ways to pay for medical services, emphasizing value rather than volume, and evidence is beginning to build about successes and challenges. This briefing will examine what we know so far about the basic models, savings, quality, the impact on patients and the prospects for replication.

Reforming the Health Care Delivery System: A Team Approach

Reforming the American health care system is a front-burner topic for many policymakers. One main reason is the desire to extend coverage to some if not all of the more than 45 million uninsured in this country. But there is an emerging consensus that reform must also encompass ways to improve quality and value in the system, and one of the prime targets for reform is the way care is delivered. Advocates, analysts, policymakers, consumers and the business and labor communities are all looking for ways to get more value for their health care dollar – delivering better care at lower cost.

Briefing for Reporters on State Health Initiatives

A governor met with reporters Friday, February 19 to discuss the latest health care innovations and changes they are pursuing or implementing. Gov. Asa Hutchinson, R-Ark., discussed his experience with the state’s program to move newly eligible Medicaid beneficiaries to qualified health plans, and his intentions for changes moving forward.

Health Care Consolidation

In 2014, there were a total of 1,299 mergers and acquisitions in the health care sector – a record number, up from 1,035 the year before. This toolkit explores the driving forces behind this trend; the scope and extent of consolidation among doctors, hospitals and insurers; implications for consumers and other stakeholders; and the roles of the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission.

Telemedicine Toolkit: The Promise and Challenges

The integration of technology and health care is on the rise. Although evidence shows that telemedicine has improved access to health care and resulted in lower costs in rural and underserved areas, challenges to expansion include reimbursement policies and acceptable security measures. A new Alliance for Health Reform Toolkit, “Telemedicine: The Promise and Challenges,” addresses the effectiveness of telemedicine as a tool for communication, as well as the expected outcomes and challenges ahead.

Improving Health Care Delivery: Innovation in the Private and Public Sectors

This event examined innovative efforts in both the private and public sectors to move toward a health system that is more patient-centered, cost-efficient and delivers better outcomes. It will address efforts underway at the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) and other federal agencies to spur innovation and prioritize a shift toward higher quality care, as well as the progress made by the private sector in improving quality and reducing costs through innovation.

Health Care Costs: What You Need to Know

The briefing explored the trends in health care costs in both the public and private sectors. It explained recent moderate growth rates, along with possible reasons and prospects for the future. This session was especially helpful to congressional staff members new to the issue, but also served as a useful review for anyone working on health care policy.

Incentives 2.0: Is Paying for Performance Enough?

Every day, health care professionals make complex decisions that directly affect the cost and quality of care. Increasingly, both private and public payers are implementing payment reforms to motivate quality improvement, reward providers for delivering high quality care, and, in some cases, impose penalties for sub-par performance, while bipartisan policy proposals to reform Medicare physician payment would modify existing provider incentive programs.