Care Coordination

Cholesterol levels are decreasing in the U.S., a trend researchers are attributing to a 2013 change in treatment guidelines, according to a Nov. 11 study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. 

Atrium Health and Novant Health joined Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina's value-based network, meaning seven of the state's largest systems will be in value-based arrangements with the insurer in 2020.

About 7 in 10 adults in the U.S. name healthcare and mass shootings as significant sources of stress, according to the American Psychological Association's 13th annual "Stress in America" survey.  

The gap between preventable deaths rates in rural and urban areas widened for many health conditions between 2010 and 2017, according to the CDC's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly report published Nov. 8.

Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan and L.A. Care Health Plan will open their first jointly operated community resource center in December, the organizations said Nov. 6.

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois broke ground on its new center on Chicago's South Side Nov. 6.

In September, Banner-University Health Plans, the managed Medicaid organization of Phoenix-based Banner Health, debuted a care coordination platform to safely share data between physicians and behavioral health providers caring for some of the state's most vulnerable patients.

Five recent articles posted by Becker's Hospital Review that concern payer-provider relationships:

The University of Iowa Health Care in Iowa City will be considered an in-network provider for Medicare patients with health insurance through HealthPartners UnityPoint Health's health plan, according to The Gazette.

Kelsey-Seybold Clinic, a Houston-based network of more than 400 physicians, will once again be a part of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas' provider network, the organizations said Nov. 6.