Daily Market Intelligence Updates
Technology Only Goes As Far As You'll Let It
Lisette Wright, M.A., Senior Associate, OPEN MINDS | Distributed May 24, 2012
When it comes to technology, the truth of the matter is, it will do as much as we want it to do. It is often our own hesitations and inability to let go of the way "things used to be" that holds us back. We've done a lot of coverage of the Medicare and Medicaid meaningful use (MU) incentive programs – both the initial Stage 1 requirements and the proposed requirements for Stage 2. Our recent coverage of the proposed Stage 2 requirements regarding consumer access to their own health records brought some interesting responses that questioned both the ease of sharing information technologically, as well as the wisdom of providing this much data to consumers... Full Article
Transparency Doesn't Only Benefit Consumers
(5/23/12) The push for health care consumers, providers, and payers alike to track quality measures is steadily gaining momentum. But it isn't only consumers that are benefiting from the availability of this type of data – by making more information widely available, service provider organizations will also gain valuable knowledge about the health care market and industry trends. Recently the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services added... Full Article
Are Late Payments the Rule?
(5/21/12) Speed and accuracy matter when you are taking steps to receive reimbursement from payers; for many organizations, the only hope for continual accounts receivable success is through efficiency, enhanced productivity, and improved collections efforts. I covered these requirements in my briefing last month, "Trickling Cash Flow", but as a flood of comments from our OPEN MINDS Circle readers illustrated, in the health and human services industry, late payments are becoming the rule, rather than the exception. For example, one Circle reader wrote to me about the... Full Article
Weekly News Wire Headlines
65 Medicare Accountable Care Organizations In Operation As of April 1, 2012
Weekly News "Hot Off The Wire"
On April 10, 2012, the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it had selected a 27 organizations to participate in the Medicare Shared Savings Program payment reform demonstration, making a total of 65 accountable care organizations (ACOs) selected since January 2012. The selected ACOs will serve more than 1.1 million fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries. The number of ACOs will increase in July 1, 2012 and again in January 2012. CMS is currently reviewing more than 150 applications from ACOs seeking to participate in the Shared Savings Program beginning July 1, 2012... Full Article
Also Featured This Week:
May 21, 2012 Edition
5% Of Adults Treated Via Outpatient Specialty Mental Health Services
Connecticut Lifespan Respite Coalition Wins $2.8 Million Contract For Youth Respite Care Program
New Federal Administration For Community Living To Reduce Fragmentation, Promote Consistency Across Federal Programs For People With Disabilities
Discover Goodwill Of Southern and Western Colorado Launches 'Possibilities' Life Skills Training Program
Three-Quarters Of Homeless Students Ineligible For HUD Services
Medicare Selects 16 Provider Organizations for Primary Care Housecalls
View Entire Edition
Monthly Management Newsletter Articles
Leadership Among The Fighting Elephants
Cover Story - May 2012
As we were preparing this issue on leadership issues, I was (once again) thinking of elephants; one particular adage came to mind – when you sleep next to elephants, you can’t help but notice when they roll over. The role of leaders in the current health care environment is to watch out for the elephants – and plan to respond quickly based on their movements. In this case, my “elephants” are those many factors out of our control – political decisions, court decisions, policy decisions, consumer preferences, new technologies, competitors (both old and new)…I could go on. The uncomfortable reality right now is that there are many competing and, in many ways, out-of-control forces shaping health and human service delivery in the United States – and the role of the leader is to take the helm and lead his or her organization through the stormy times. ...
Read The Full Article (all members)
Also In This Month's Issue:
Take The OPEN MINDS Governance Survey!
View Entire Issue
The Perfect Question For A CEO: What Keeps Me Up At Night?
Deploying Telehealth & P4P: Shannon W. Freedle, CEO, Teambuilders
Remaining Financially Viable: Jonathan Evans, CEO, Safe Harbor
Using Industry Collaboration: Joe Rutherford, CEO, Mental Health Care, Inc.
Responding To The Rapidly Changing Marketplace: Howard Shiffman, Former CEO
Navigating The Privatization of Child Welfare Services
Management Watch: Should You "Eliminate" Your Managers?
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