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ONC Encourages Private Sector to Help Providers Compare
Late Tuesday, the Office of the National Coordinator for Healthcare Information Technology released a Report to Congress, entitled “Report on the Feasibility of Mechanisms to Assist Providers in Comparing and Selecting Certified EHR Technology Products.” This report emphasizes ONC’s thoughts that the private sector is in the best position to create the “Yelp for EHRs.” Instead of creating a tool for industry to use, ONC believes that the government should encourage the publication of more data, leaving the responsibility to analyze and contextualize up to the private sector for providers interested in electronic health records
Premier Survey Reveals Support for Population Health
Population health is garnering increased support among C-suite executives, according to a new survey released by Premier. The survey, Spring 2016 Economic Outlook, found that population health and the Affordable Care Act are considered the largest cause of change in the industry by over 50 percent of executives surveyed. In a press release, Premier highlighted that expansion and integration of high-value post-acute care networks is an important step in the population health transition, cited by 95 percent of executives as a key area of focus over the next three years. Alongside that, 94 percent of respondents believe creating these networks is the greatest challenge their systems will face over the same timeframe. Premier conducts the survey twice a year to highlight major trends affecting providers and industry in general.
Mixed News for First Year of MSSP
New data reported in the New England Journal of Medicine show mixed results for Accountable Care Organizations.The study reports 97 of 353 Pioneer and Medicare Shared Savings Programs earned performance bonuses for 2014. Additionally, the study found ACOs joining the program in 2012 cut spending by $238 million. Conversely, the group joining in 2013 generated hardly any savings, averaging only three dollars less per beneficiary. “…the incentives for ACOs to lower spending are currently very weak, so savings may accelerate if the incentives are strengthened,” according to J. Michael Williams of Harvard Medical School and lead author of the study in a statement.
Three States Move on Telemedicine
Alaska, Louisiana, and Colorado have moved on telemedicine in the last week. Alaska’s House of Representatives passed a bill allowing out-of-state doctors to see in-state patients. Last month, the Federal Trade Commission lauded the bill as being “precompetitive.” In Louisiana, the Senate unanimously passed a bill, SB 328, waiving requirements for telemedicine providers to either be physically located in the state or have an agreement with an in-state practice. Finally, in Colorado, the Division of Insurance will allow telemedicine providers to be used to meet health plans’ network adequacy requirements. The move follows the National Association of Insurance Commissioners’ recommendation from late last year that states have been slow to take up. You can read the bulletin here.
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MEMBER SPOTLIGHT:
Can Healthcare’s Internet of Things Move from Froth to Function?
Drew Schiller, Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Validic, an eHI member, discusses technological aspects and advantages of patient engagement. Read more…
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UPCOMING EVENTS:
Thursday, April 28, 2-3 pm ET Council of Data Analytics Experts
Monday, May 9, 2-3 pm ET Interoperability Workgroup
Tuesday, May 10, 11:30 am -1 pm ET, Policy Working Group Lunch: featuring Sarah P. Farrell, PhD, RN, Health Market Development Executive, Apple Education
October 4-5, 2016 Innovation Challenge at House of Sweden in Washington, DC
To be included in any of the upcoming events email claudia.ellison@ehidc.org.
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Wearables Shipments Expected to Rise Significantly by 2021
A new report by Tractica reveals that wearable healthcare devices will rise significantly, reaching 98 million units shipped per year by 2021. That is up from 2.5 million in 2016. By that same year, Tractica estimates that the global healthcare wearables market will generate $17.8 billion per year in sales. "The market for healthcare wearables is very much in its infancy… Wearables are being seen as an extension of the digital transformation of healthcare, helping pharmaceutical companies to expand clinical trials, enabling insurance companies to engage with customers by incentivizing healthier living, helping healthcare providers to improve the delivery of healthcare, and empowering patients by providing them access to their own health data,” according to Aditya Kaul, Research Director, in a press statement.
Old Program Suffers Breach, Affects Current Research
The American College of Cardiology recently discovered a data security breach potentially affecting 98,000 patients at 1,400 medical institutions. This breach highlights the risk of using real patient data in test environments, as well as the need for proper security in said situations. The ACC breach was discovered after a patient’s information was exposed to a third-party developer during the College’s national cardiovascular registry redesign between 2009-2010. This was not a data breach by hackers; it was an unauthorized disclosure of information. It is not believed that patient information had been used inappropriately.
Large EHR Systems Missing Clinical and Behavioral Data
Major investment in EHR was predicated on the idea that increased investment lead to increased patient safety, capacity in research, and cost savings. A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, conducted a comparison between insurance claims to clinical electronic health records regarding a patient cohort in Massachusetts. The report found that, among other findings, EHR missed 89 percent of acute psychiatric services and 60 percent and 54 percent of outpatient care for behavioral care among depression and bipolar patients, respectively, were missed by EHR. The report expresses concern regarding the continued fragmentation of the US healthcare system that leads to incomplete data in primary site EHR. Authors of the study mostly faulted government efforts. According to the study: “Better interoperability could be facilitated with national technical standards. Federal policies to date have tilted too far in accommodating EHRs vendors’ desire for flexible, voluntary standards. The incompatible products that result undermine public health goals and can lock providers in to proprietary systems that cannot easily share data.”
Task Force Reports Strong Numbers Regarding Value-based Care
The Health Care Transformation Task Force, a group of major providers including major names like Partners Health, released a report announcing 40 percent of payer and provider members entered value-based payment arrangements in the last year. Their goal is 75 percent of members on value-based care. The task force defines value-based payment arrangements as those that provide incentives and holds providers responsible for meeting the Triple Aim. Task Force members were asked to respond to one of following three questions, based on arrangements in place as of December 31, 2015:
- The percentage of the health plan’s total membership whose care is provided by a provider contracted under a global budget, bundled payment methodology, or a shared savings arrangement (Payer category option);
- The percentage of total services that are provided by a provider contracted under a global budget, bundled payment methodology, or a shared savings arrangement (Payer category option); or,
- The percentage of current revenue that is from contracts that are under a global budget, bundled payment methodology, or a shared savings arrangement (Provider category approach).
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US-EU Privacy Shield Dropped
An advisory board consisting solely of European data protection regulators dismissed the hotly anticipated Privacy Shield agreement. Privacy Shield was an agreement between the United States of America and the European Union, regulating US companies handing personal data of European citizens. The regulators scrapped it due to issues on the European side regarding data transfers and use. This leaves US companies in an uncomfortable gray area regarding operating and handing of data inside the European Union.
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