Update From The Field

Newtown, CT - July 15, 2016
Bridges to Excellence in the Spotlight in Minnesota

HCI3's Bridges to Excellence programs recognize and reward clinicians who deliver superior patient care.

Successful implementation of Bridges to Excellence diabetes, vascular disease, and depression care programs in Minnesota is in the news this week. The Star Tribune reports that more than 250 clinics across the state are splitting nearly $1 million in shared savings, rewarding health care providers for high quality in treating these conditions.

The participating clinicians' care was evaluated according to the sophisticated, clinically sound quality measures established under our Bridges to Excellence program.

Learn more about Bridges to Excellence.

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Update on MACRA/MIPS

CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt testified before a Senate committee earlier this week, and indicated that implementation of some MACRA regulations may be delayed. 

Healthcare Informatics reports he told the committee, "There has been significant feedback received here, and we remain open to options including alternative start dates, looking at shorter [reporting] periods used, and other ways physicians could get help and experience before the program hits them."

Some of that feedback came from HCI3. Review our comment letter, and our public statement summarizing the recommendations we offered. An earlier blog post by HCI3 Executive Director Francois de Brantes also called for a delay in implementation of some of the regulation.
 
From The Desk of Francois de Brantes
HCI3's executive director highlights on consumerism in health care. An excerpt:

...While there’s little doubt left that high deductible health plans have a negative effect on consumer behavior because they reduce consumption of high and low value services indiscriminately, that is not at all analogous to saying that consumerism in health care doesn’t work.

... Our  analysis suggests you can choose one of thirteen with prices varying twofold between the lowest and highest priced. 
Episode of Care Definitions API:
HCI3's Episode of Care definitions (also called metadata) are procedure and diagnosis codes grouped together to outline the entire range of treatment for more than 90 conditions.
Our Episode of Care definitions are an essential ingredient to success for anyone developing apps designed to:
  • convey price and quality of care information to consumers
  • to facilitate bundled payments or other forms of alternative payment models
  • to help clinicians in managing patients along the continuum of care, or
  • any of hundreds of other potential use cases
The HCI3 Episode of Care Definition metadata files are machine-readable versions of all the definitions in detail. They are accessible via an  API  - a publicly available MySQL database - or can be downloaded as XML files. The definitions are available to anyone who accepts our  user agreement , and are useful for those considering payment reform programs or cost and quality analysis implementations.  
Discover Your Opportunity (DYO) 
Identify trends for interventions that will give you the biggest bang for your buck. Get a free claims analytics report. Learn More.
Crossing the Gap to Better Quality Care
Bridges to Excellence - A family of recognition programs that identify higher quality physicians. Learn More.
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Positively shaped health care incentives increase both efficiency and quality of care.