The Missing Ingredient in Your Hospital's Social Determinants Initiative

The Missing Ingredient in Your Hospital’s Social Determinants Initiative

July 28, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsAHIMA, Data, SDOH, social determinants, Social Determinants of Health Report

Telling a complete patient story requires capturing the social determinants that influence overall health. Evidence suggests that focusing on “upstream” interventions outside of traditional clinical care—such as housing, neighborhood conditions, and increased socioeconomic status—can lead to overall improvements in health and reduce health disparities and inequities. The challenge for health systems is capturing and structuring…

RECORDED WEBINAR: Laboratory Diagnostics: An Overlooked Solution to Reduce ACO Member Cost and close the gap between data and diagnosis

July 27, 2021Garrett SchmittLibrary, Webinar RecordingNo Commentslaboratory, phlebotomy, specimen collection, Webinar, webinars

Download Slides Scarlet Health is an in-home, fully integrated digital platform providing access to on-demand specimen collection services. Backed by BioReference’s national presence and infrastructure, with laboratory facilities and professionals across the country, Scarlet delivers an innovative, flexible, mobile alternative to traditional patient service centers or other draw locations when phlebotomy and other specimen…

Feeding two birds with one seed: payment reform, telehealth, & health equity

July 27, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo Commentspayment reform, SDOH, Telehealth

Like so many technologies before it, telehealth is a disruptive force with seemingly limitless potential. It can be a phone call between a doctor and a patient, or a message exchange between a primary care provider and a specialist. It can even be a consumer answering a few simple questions online and getting the prescription…

Internet Access as a Social Determinant of Health

July 27, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsAHRQ, Internet, Internet access, SDOH, social determinant, social determinants of health

Using data from its social determinants of health database, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently created an online visualization tool providing county-level information about people’s internet access. The new resource features a US map showing percentages of households with computers, smartphones, and any type of high-speed internet access. The map also shows…

The Little-Known Agency That’s Trying To Boil The Ocean—A Look At CMMI’s Decade Of Trying To Change Medicare & Medicaid

July 26, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsACA, CMMI, CMS, HHS, Medicare

When asked about government’s influence and impact on healthcare, I like to cite my friend, former Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael Leavitt, who says, “If you want to change healthcare you have to change Medicare.” Everybody else—the commercial insurers and the providers—will follow. But changing Medicare is hard. As we’ve seen, even with…

The Incentives, Barriers and Levers for Scale in Social Determinants of Health (SDoH)

July 26, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsCMS, incentives, SDOH, social determinants, social determinants of health, value-based care, vbc

Historically, the U.S. healthcare system has evolved based upon the presence of an “event”, i.e., the need for a visit – planned or impromptu – to a medical provider and/or facility. The inefficiencies, glut of utilization and exponentially rising costs that flow from it as funded by the long-standing “fee-for-service” (FFS) payment methodology have been…

Medicare eligibility erases many healthcare disparities in US

July 26, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo Commentshealthcare disparities, Medicare, SDOH, social determinants, social determinants of health

When it was launched 56 years ago, Medicare became the first single-payer insurance program in the U.S., guaranteeing medical coverage to virtually every American once they turned 65. Medicare has proven to be a crucial feature of the U.S. safety net, providing healthcare services to tens of millions of Americans while helping to keep them…

3 Strategies To Push ACO Savings Beyond Coordination of Care Limits

July 25, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsACOs, care coordination, coordination of care, savings

Will accountable care organizations (ACOs) be the value-based payment model of the future?That depends. As the value-based care market has changed, ACO numbers have dropped and competitive payment models have attracted medical groups. ACOs need to prove that the shared savings model can increase historical savings and retain provider participation. And they may have limited…

Collaborating to Support Better Outcomes Through Value-Based Care

July 23, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsCollaboration, COVID-19, health outcomes, Partnerships, value-based care, vbc

As we look toward brighter days post-pandemic, we would be remiss to not reflect on how COVID-19 has challenged healthcare providers, both clinically and financially. While COVID-19 infections have declined, providers have learned from the turbulence of the past year that being prepared to think strategically about their business is critical to providing affordable, quality…

Value-Centric Legislation Gives ACOs a Leg Up

July 22, 2021Garrett SchmittLibraryNo CommentsACOs, APMs, legislation, news, vbc

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives this week introduced bipartisan legislation to strengthen Medicare’s value-based care models and accountable care organizations (ACOs), among other alternative payment models (APMs). Doctors, hospitals and other providers make up an ACO — the group coordinates care for Medicare patients while limiting extraneous services and preventing medical errors. The better…