Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Merry Christmas to all of our readers who celebrate! We hope and pray that each and every one of you experiences love, joy, and peace this holiday season, and celebrates safely. May we all be filled with wisdom and love, and have the kindness and courage to pass on those great gifts to the rest of the world!

The business of healthcare has evolved significantly over the last two decades as stakeholders, from providers to policymakers, have looked for ways to manage costs while improving patient outcomes and achieving health equity. More and more independent practices have been purchased by health systems, offering economies of scale while promoting provider accountability for the delivery of high-quality, equitable, and more affordable healthcare services. Now a new player–corporate healthcare–has entered the market. In 2021, 52 percent of physicians were employed by corporate healthcare companies instead of traditional medical groups, hospitals, and health systems. Amazon, Aetna CVS, and Walmart have acquired practices and hired new physicians, and they are marketing telehealth and personal visits at their clinic locations. They are doing so while participating in value-based care, the dominant payment reform movement.

Accountable care models serve as the cornerstone of value-based approaches to expand access to well-coordinated, high-quality, and longitudinal care. Specialist engagement in these models is critical given the increasing role of specialists in managing care across the patient journey, the growing importance of specialized diagnostics and early disease interventions (such as biologics and cell and gene therapies), and an increasing array of specialty care capabilities. Yet, despite their critical role in patient care, specialty care providers have had limited opportunities to engage in accountable care models to date. Improving meaningful specialist engagement in payment reforms is critical to achieving the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ (CMS’s) 2030 goal to have most Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in accountable care relationships, as affirmed by the CMS Innovation Center (Innovation Center) in its 2022 specialty strategy blog.

Deloitte: Improving health equity in 2024 is a top-10 goal for most execs

Fierce Healthcare | December 19, 2023

More than 80% of C-suite executives from healthcare and life sciences organizations see improved health equity as a top-10 goal for 2024, a recent report by Deloitte found. The report offered a 2024 outlook for health equity across the two industries and relied on data from a survey conducted by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions. The survey reached 53 health equity leaders and 121 healthcare and life sciences executives. Deloitte defines health equity as the fair and just opportunity for all to achieve their full potential in every aspect of their health, regardless of who they are or where they are from. The report found that nearly 50% of respondents expect to increase equity investments next year. Realizing ROI from high-quality care requires intentional strategy and time, the report said. Short-term, these investments could lead to better recruitment, retention or operations. Long-term, health equity could positively impact every aspect of business.

Researchers warn generative AI could add $43 billion annually to America’s already stark racial wealth gap over the next two decades, with Black workers also facing a higher risk of job loss thanks to automation. Why it matters: The wealth gap between Black households and white households has widened since 1980 in the U.S., where the median white household now has $285,000 in wealth, compared to $45,000 for the median Black household.

Driving the news: Researchers from McKinsey conclude in a new report shared with Axios that AI threatens to automate half of all jobs that don’t require a 4-year degree and that pay over $42,000 a year, which they define as the threshold for building wealth. The researchers concluded that the workers most at risk are in office support, production (e.g. machinists) and food services — all categories where Black workers are overrepresented and which many workers often use as stepping stones to higher-skill, higher-wage roles.

On occasion, we showcase one of our solution providers in a 4-5 minute interview and ask them what they bring to the VBC Community and what sets them apart. 

Today's guest:

CareJourney is a leading source of provider cost and quality analytics for the healthcare industry. They support payers, value-based networks and numerous ACOs, helping them assess value-based care models, optimize provider performance, coordinate patient care and uncover market growth opportunities. CareJourney does this by consolidating and enriching Medicare FFS, Medicare Advantage and Medicare and Commercial claims data for more than 275M lives to produce over 300 key provider performance indicators for more 2M+ Physicians.

Visit the CareJourney Exhibit Booth