Healthcare is ever changing, so it’s important to stay up to date on advancements and issues that may impact the development, operation, maintenance, and growth of your services. Here are some important developments:

Outpatient centers reflect growing health care trend

The outpatient centers that have opened in the past two years at the Long Ridge Health and Science center reflect an ongoing migration of medical services from hospitals to smaller facilities closer to homes and workplaces. And the investment in the outpatient model continues to accelerate, as patients and medical professionals have embraced the evolution. “This is patient driven,” said Dr. Mary Cooper senior vice president of clinical services at the Connecticut Hospital Association. “All of us want the availability of high-quality care that’s convenient. None of us want to spend time away from families, jobs and other commitments by being an inpatient in the hospital.” Continue reading…

Patients ‘relieved’ by amyloid scans

Most patients said they were “relieved” by the results of their amyloid scans, but there’s still room for education as to what those results actually mean, researchers found in a small study. In a single-center study at a tertiary care center staffed with experienced dementia specialists, the majority of 20 patient-caregiver pairs undergoing amyloid PET imaging said they felt relief from the scans, whether they were positive or negative, Joshua Grill, PhD, of the University of California Irvine, and colleagues reported. But several participants thought the scan provided a “definitive” diagnosis, and could reveal information about the severity of the disease, when it can do neither of those things, the researchers noted. Continue reading…

Physician quality reporting system (PQRS)

The Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) is a reporting program of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). It gives eligible professionals (EPs) the opportunity to assess the quality of care they are providing to their patients, helping to ensure that patients get the right care at the right time. By reporting PQRS quality measures, providers also can quantify how often they are meeting a particular quality metric. Using the feedback report provided by CMS, EPs can compare their performance on a given measure with their peers.Continue reading…

Six thoughts on the movement from inpatient to outpatient care & 7 core thoughts on great leadership

The movement to outpatient care has been gradual. It has been generally at a clip of 2 to 3 percent a year. This movement from hospital inpatient to outpatient varies significantly. Some states have seen very little movement while others have seen substantial movement. Regardless, this movement is expected to continue for several more years. Big box stores saw gradual movement to e-commerce that didn’t immediately kill their margins and business. However, hospitals, like big box stores, have low profit margins and the gradual loss of inpatient to outpatient business ultimately has a very dramatic impact. Thus, even though gradual, at some point, it creeps up on margins and profits and can be very significant. Continue reading…

Here is the key to maintain a thriving practice

Healthcare is unique in the limits physicians have to predict practice revenue from a variety of payer models. As we look to the future of healthcare delivery, medical practices will still contend with these limitations, but they can control at least two things: how well they care for patients and how efficiently they run their practices. On the business side, efficiency can be measured and improved by the right key performance indicators (KPIs). Continue reading…

100 things to know about Medicare reimbursement | 2017

Since its launch in 1965, Medicare has been one of the most influential programs for hospitals, health systems and other providers. Medicare has played a prominent part in various reform movements, including the shift from fee-for-service to value-based payment models, and the program’s policies and reimbursement rates have acted as a catalyst for change nationwide. This article sheds some much-needed light on several facets of Medicare reimbursement, covering everything from the latest update to the Inpatient Prospective Payment System to mandatory bundled payment models. Continue reading…

Five factors that are changing healthcare in 2017

One thing is certain this year—it will be one of unprecedented change for the healthcare industry. With President Trump’s inauguration in January, and his pledge to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, everyone is curious what the year will hold. I’ve reviewed all of the predictions and prognostication for what 2017’s top trends will be, and identified what I consider the five factors that will drive the most change in healthcare—in 2017 and beyond. Continue reading…