Care Coordination

Medical Billing Specialists, an anesthesia management company, announced that it has teamed up with Survey Vitals to provide anesthesia practices with a quality improvement program.

Emergency departments may be one of the more effective places to pick up the stragglers from the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's insurance enrollment process, according to a report from Kaiser Health News.

Health insurer Cigna has announced three new collaborative accountable care initiatives, its version of accountable care organizations: two in Connecticut and one in New Hampshire.

Patient centered medical homes have a modest, albeit positive impact on the quality of care in practices in which they are fully adopted, according to the Patient-Centered Primary Care Collaborative's new report, "The Patient Centered Medical Home's Impact on Cost…

Valley Preferred, a provider-owned preferred provider organization aligned with Lehigh Valley Health Network in Allentown, Pa., has formed a new accountable care agreement with Aetna.

Oakland, Calif.-based Kaiser Permanente has partnered with the city of Aurora, Colo., to open a health center for city employees, according to a Denver Post report.

First Coast Health Alliance, a physician hospital organization established by St. Augustine, Fla.-based Flagler Hospital that includes 188 physicians, has partnered with Florida Blue for an accountable care program.

Englewood, Colo.-based Centura Health has announced a clinical collaboration agreement with Walgreens to coordinate and expand healthcare services for patients within Centura's market.

The high ratio of intensive care unit beds to population may be inflating the demand for ICU care, driving up costs of care in the U.S., according to a viewpoint in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

Harrisburg, Pa.-based PinnacleHealth System and Capital BlueCross are offering a new health insurance plan — CareConnect Point of Service — to employers, driven by their existing accountable care arrangement.