Care Coordination

Of all emergency department visits, 1.5 percent resulted in a transfer to another acute-care facility in 2009, according to a statistical brief from the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project, sponsored by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

The National Governors Association has announced the formation of a Health Care Sustainability Task Force.

Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa has formed an accountable care organization with Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and Iowa City-based University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Mercy Memorial Hospital in Urbana, Ohio, announced a partnership with Emergency Medicine Physicians in Canton, Ohio, beginning May 21, according to an Urbana Daily Citizen report.

By 2009, inpatient admissions from the emergency department accounted for approximately half of all hospital admissions excluding live births, according to a Rand Corp. research report, "The Evolving Role of Emergency Departments in the United States."

CMS has announced an open period for more applications from hospitals to take part in the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative's Model 1.

The Joint Commission released a statement clarifying its revisions to leadership standard LD.04.03.11, or the "patient flow standard," which includes a recommendation of a four-hour timeframe for boarding in the note at element of performance 6, effective Jan. 1, 2014.

Managing patients with chronic diseases has been a big focus for many accountable care organizations, since those patients traditionally use healthcare facilities more often than patients with no chronic disease.

Peoria, Ill.-based OSF Healthcare System and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois are forming an accountable care organization, according to a Peoria Journal Star report.

Seventy-seven percent of quality management leaders and chief medical officers report that the most popular target for implementation of value-based payment models is employee group plans, according to "Health Plan Readiness to Operationalize Value-Based Payment Models," a research study sponsored…