Integration & Physician Issues

1. Advocate Health Care (Oakbrook, Ill.). Advocate partnered with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois in Oct. 2010 to form a three-year ACO. Advocate agreed to limit annual increases in return for the opportunity to share in savings resulting…

A recent white paper by the American Health Information Management association has outlined accountable care organizations’ implications for managing health information, highlighting certain measures hospital leaders should take in the shift towards accountable care. The paper says the conventional understanding…

The vision underlying the accountable care movement is worth “pursuing with bold steps,” according to a recent New England Journal of Medicine article, which suggests ways for CMS to improve ACO participation without sacrificing the model’s provisions. ACOs need more…

Based on their study findings, researchers have concluded healthcare providers can improve and sustain high healthcare quality while controlling costs through a global payment approach, according to a news release from Harvard Medical School.

Evergreen Hospital in Kirkland, Wash., has been selected to participate in the Multi-Payer Medical Home Reimbursement Pilot, a 32-month program run by the Washington State Health Care Authority and the Puget Sound Health Alliance, according to a news release. The…

CareFirst Blue Cross Blue Shield, an insurer to residents of Maryland and Washington, D.C., has reported that nearly 75 percent of physicians in its network are now participating in the care-coordination effort it launched in March, according to a report…

Three healthcare industry leaders answered the question, "Who is a great physician leader and why is he or she a great physician leader?"

Since a primary goal for sales is to build relationships with referring physicians in an effort to increase referrals, what precisely goes on in the meeting that will help you meet this goal? Is it enough to “stop-in,” spend time…

Vanguard Health Systems has announced it will redeem for cash a pro rate portion of its outstanding 10.375 percent senior discount notes due 2016.

The country is facing a significant shortage in its supply of physicians, advanced practice nurses and physician assistants, as the supply of all three professionals will be 20 percent less than demand in 2025, according to a study in the…