CMS published for the first time the quality and financial performance for individual Pioneer accountable care organizations, a small, select group enlisted for Medicare’s most ambitious test of the payment model. First year financial results show health spending slowed as much as 7% among some ACOs and accelerated as much as 5% for others. In […]
PointNurse, a new consumer healthcare startup company, has announced a live pilot of its consumer oriented tele-health app and marketplace. The pilot is scheduled to run in select cities around North America on November 8-9th, 2014. PointNurse leverages curated healthcare video and articles to drive consumers to contextually relevant providers in its tele-health marketplace. Consumers […]
As the Affordable Care Act, government and private insurers push doctors and hospitals away from fee-for-service medicine, the nation’s largest insurer, UnitedHealth Group (UNH) says it’s seeing more results. The health insurance giant, which is shifting tens of billions of dollars toward linking doctor pay to efficiency and quality, said in a new report that […]
Vree Health, a company that combines technology with direct personal patient engagement to influence positive behavioral change and help improve outcomes, has a new, choice agreement to provide care transition management services to Amerinet, a leading healthcare solutions organization. Under the agreement, Amerinet members, which include acute and non-acute care hospitals, surgery centers, long-term care […]
PerformRx (www.performrx.com), a URAC-accredited, full-service pharmacy benefits manager with industry-leading clinical programs, announced today the launch of PerformSpecialty, a new specialty pharmacy focused on care management for patients with chronic and complex conditions. The company, which is expected to create more than 80 jobs, is headquartered in Orlando, FL. “PerformSpecialty is structured to provide medications […]
Heart failure patients participating in a Geisinger Health Plan telemonitoring program were significantly less likely to be readmitted to the hospital, according to a study to be published in the December issue of Population Health Management. The researchers calculated the program saved $3.30 for each dollar spent to implement the program. There were 541 participants […]
The world is currently moving into an era of ubiquitous connectivity, which is transforming the operating styles and communication channels of an enterprise. Machine to machine (M2M) communications, a solution that allows automated communication between connected devices over a wireless network, has aided enterprises in their progress to ascertain constant connectivity and real time monitoring […]
Medical technology company BD has agreed to pay $12.2 billion in cash and stock to buy CareFusion, which sells products and services intended to improve healthcare safety. Franklin Lakes, N.J.- based BD said the deal would give it a product portfolio that addresses the full spectrum of medication management—beginning with preparation in the pharmacy and […]
As accountable care organizations (ACOs) collect data from more sources, they report concerns about interoperability and data management. Interoperability of disparate systems is a significant challenge for 95 percent of organizations using HIT, and could be limiting the abilities of ACOs to exchange data. Reflecting the provider frustration with interoperability problems, the cost and return-on-investment […]
An accountable care organizations (ACO) survey, fielded in July-August of 2014 found that 88 percent of the ACOs face significant obstacles in integrating data from disparate sources, and 83 percent report challenges integrating technology analytics into workflow – barriers that become more acute as ACOs add new platforms or build on their expansive network of […]