August 2015 - Health Affairs - The Network of Care

Breaking The Graduate Medical Education Policy Logjam

The content and effectiveness of Graduate Medical Education (GME) is an important determinant of the quality and cost of our health care system. Location of GME affects the size and geographic distribution of our physician workforce, thereby influencing...

Published Wed, Aug 12 2015 11:12 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Primary Care, Medicare, Quality, Population Health, Featured, Health Policy Lab, Organization and Delivery, Costs and Spending, Medicaid and CHIP, Health Professionals, HHS, GME, Rural Training Track, IOM report, COGME, MACRA, House Energy and Commerce committee

In Pursuit Of Hospital Quality: Creating Effective Performance Measures And Transparency In Health Care

When Garrison Keillor of “ Prairie Home Companion ” fame welcomes his radio audience to Lake Wobegon, his fictional Minnesota town, he describes it as a place where, “all the children are above average.” When one of us or our loved ones goes to a hospital...

Published Tue, Aug 04 2015 6:27 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Medicare, Quality, Hospitals, Patient Safety, Big Data, Population Health, Featured, Payment Policy, Organization and Delivery, Health Professionals, IOM, Hospital Care, Charles Kahn, Hospital Quality Alliance, Metrics

A New Framework For Health Care Management

Today’s health care management is in need of an overhaul. The classic top down model, which has existed for more than 50 years, does not empower frontline workers to identify and solve problems. It must be replaced by a model for management that supports...

Published Fri, Aug 21 2015 6:23 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Quality, Hospitals, Population Health, Featured, Organization and Delivery, Health Professionals, Lean, Palo Alto Medical Foundation, Kaizen Improvement, Plan-Do-Study-Act, The ThedaCare Center for Healthcare Value

Insights Into Hispanics’ Enrollment On The Health Insurance Exchanges

In the U.S., Hispanics are more likely to lack health insurance than any other racial or ethnic group, and enrollment on the individual health insurance exchanges is disproportionately low among Hispanics — issues that have been well documented...

Published Wed, Aug 26 2015 8:39 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Medicare, Population Health, Featured, Following the ACA, Insurance and Coverage, Costs and Spending, Medicaid and CHIP, Equity and Disparities, open enrollment period, McKinsey, Hispanics, consumer shopping behavior

Rising Cost Of Drugs: Where Do We Go From Here?

The trends are clear: patients and institutions across the nation are concerned about skyrocketing drug prices. This post offers some information about drug pricing, explores the notion of market intervention, and proposes a series of responses to high...

Published Mon, Aug 31 2015 9:44 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Public Health, Featured, Payment Policy, Costs and Spending, Medicaid and CHIP, Drugs and Medical Technology, FDA, hepatitis C, CMS, Big Pharma, Gilead Sciences, Pricewaterhouse Coopers

New Jersey’s Approach To Medicaid ACOs Is An Experiment Worth Watching

As the July issue of Health Affairs recognized, Medicaid has become a hotbed for health care transformation, with states increasingly turning to Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and medical homes to reduce costs and improve care delivery in their...

Published Tue, Aug 25 2015 7:31 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Medicare, Population Health, Featured, Organization and Delivery, Costs and Spending, Medicaid and CHIP, Accountable Care Organizations, Health Professionals, ACOs, The Nicholson Foundation, Medicaid Managed Care, New Jersey, Chris Christie

Implementing Health Reform: IRS Proposes Modification To Minimum Value Rule

Premium tax credits to assist with purchasing qualified health plans through the marketplaces are available to individuals with modified adjusted gross household incomes between 100 and 400 percent of the federal poverty level who do not otherwise qualify...

Published Mon, Aug 31 2015 11:40 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Following the ACA, Insurance and Coverage, Costs and Spending, HHS, CMS, IRS, Tim Jost, Essential Health Benefits, minimum value standard, employer-sponsored coverage, 2017 benchmark plans

The Future Of Premium Assistance Through Waivers Under The Affordable Care Act

Premium assistance is the use of public funding for the purchase of commercial health insurance. Historically, premium assistance has mostly enabled a small number of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) recipients to enroll in health...

Published Wed, Aug 26 2015 12:38 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Featured, Payment Policy, Insurance and Coverage, Costs and Spending, Medicaid and CHIP, Essential Health Benefits, qualified health plans, State Innovation Waiver, Health Insurance Premium Payment Program

Title X: The Lynchpin Of Publicly Funded Family Planning In The United States

The Title X national family planning program was created 45 years ago with broad bipartisan support. Today, Congress has Title X—still the only federal grant program dedicated entirely to family planning and related preventive health care—in...

Published Mon, Aug 10 2015 6:55 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Public Health, Quality, Population Health, Featured, Costs and Spending, Equity and Disparities, ACA, Long-term Services and Supports, Women's Health, family planning, Title X, Planned Parenthood

New Narrative Matters: A Failing Heart And The Downside Of Life-Prolonging Technology

In Health Affairs’ August Narrative Matters essay, for a man with end-stage heart failure, a left ventricular assist device prolongs life but brings dire complications. Kristin Kostick and Jennifer Blumenthal-Barby’s article is freely available...

Published Thu, Aug 13 2015 1:38 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Bioethics, Quality, Narrative Matters, Elsewhere@ Health Affairs, Featured, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, end-stage heart failure, cardiac failure, quality of life

Request For Abstracts: Health Affairs Theme Issue On Behavioral Health

Health Affairs is planning a theme issue on behavioral health, which will present work pertaining to policies involved in the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services. Among other topics, we are interested in work exploring barriers to access...

Published Tue, Aug 18 2015 6:02 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Mental Health, Substance Abuse, Elsewhere@ Health Affairs, Behavioral Health, request for abstracts

Don’t Repeal the “Cadillac Tax” On High Cost Health Plans

Since the beginnings of employer-sponsored health insurance (ESI), employer contributions have been excluded from both income and payroll taxes, without limit (“the exclusion”). The Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) so-called “Cadillac Tax”—a nickname...

Published Wed, Aug 05 2015 10:48 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Payment Policy, Following the ACA, Insurance and Coverage, Costs and Spending, ACA, Health Policy, Cadillac tax, premiums, Alain Enthoven

Improving Patient Safety Through The National Action Plan For Adverse Drug Event Prevention

Editor’s Note: This is one of several posts Health Affairs Blog is publishing stemming from sessions at the June 2015 AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in Minneapolis. Watch Health Affairs Blog for additional posts on topics raised at the ARM...

Published Mon, Aug 10 2015 1:03 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Public Health, Featured, Drugs and Medical Technology, ADE Action Plan, opioids, ODPHP, Academy Health Annual Research Meeting, Healthy People 2020

The Payment Reform Landscape: Why Medicare’s Hip And Knee Replacement Payment Model May Not Be The Answer For Other Payers And Purchasers

Some of the most common surgeries that Medicare beneficiaries receive are hip and knee replacements. In 2013, there were more than 400,000 inpatient primary procedures, costing Medicare more than $7 billion for hospitalizations alone. Medicare spends...

Published Thu, Aug 06 2015 10:32 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Medicare, Hospitals, Population Health, Featured, Payment Policy, Costs and Spending, CMS, Catalyst for Payment Reform, Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement, hip replacement, Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute, knee replacement

A More Cohesive Home: Integrating Primary And Palliative Care For Seriously Ill Patients

Treatment for Mr. M’s advanced heart failure was no longer extending or improving his life. He was becoming increasingly short of breath and confused -and hospital stays provided only short-term relief. Mr. M’s cardiologist contacted Dr. P, his long-time...

Published Mon, Aug 03 2015 6:43 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Quality, End-of-Life Care, Palliative Care, Population Health, Organization and Delivery, Equity and Disparities, Health Professionals, Long-term Services and Supports, integrated care, Ravi Parikh, patient-centered medical homes, Dying in America

August 2015 - Health Affairs

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