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This week's industry news

1.) AHRQ Evidence-based Guide Helps Implement Health Assessments in Primary Care Settings

Many behaviors that are problematic but treatable are going unnoticed because of the infrequent use of health risk assessments (HRAs), according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

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2.) 2013 Healthcare Benchmarks: Health Risk Assessments

This resource analyzes the responses of more than 100 healthcare organizations to HIN's October 2013 Industry Survey on Health Risk Assessments, and provides metrics and measures on current and planned HRA initiatives as well as lessons learned and results from successful health assessment programs.

Learn more about this resource.

3.) Diabetics Who Use Mail Order Pharmacies Less Likely to Visit ER: Study

Contrary to concerns, diabetic patients who received heart medications by mail were less likely to visit the emergency room than those who picked up prescriptions in person, according to a new Kaiser Permanente study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

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4.) Patient-Centered Diabetes Management: Driving Outcomes with Education and Behavior Change

This resource provides actionable data from 83 organizations on current diabetes management programs and their impact on population health outcomes and healthcare spend, providing critical benchmarks that show how the industry is working to more effectively engage patients in the self-management of their diabetes.

Learn more about this resource.

5.) Healthcare Business White Paper: Telehealth in 2013 - Videoconferencing, Virtual Visits and Smartphones Power Population Health Management

Healthcare is leaning on videoconferencing more than ever to monitor discharged patients, conduct remote consultations and facilitate communication, according to responses to 2013 Telehealth Survey by the Healthcare Intelligence Network. Respondents reported an increase in the use of videoconferencing - from 41 percent in 2010 to 59 percent in 2013. Download this HINtelligence report for more telehealth trends for 2013 as reported by 129 healthcare companies in HIN's third annual Telehealth Survey. Included in the report are the greatest barriers or challenges to telehealth implementation, top funding to support telehealth efforts, telehealth use in clinical applications, and much more.

Download this complimentary white paper.

6.) Medicare Finalizes Home Health Payments for 2014

A final ruling on home healthcare payments has been issued for 2014, and is designed to better align Medicare payments with home health agencies' costs providing care, while lowering costs to taxpayers and the 3.5 million Medicare beneficiaries who receive services, according to the CMS.

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7.) New Chart: Top Targeted Conditions for Medication Adherence Programs

According to the more than 100 healthcare companies who responded to HIN's latest medication adherence (MA) e-survey, 61 percent say that hypertension is the top health condition targeted by MA programs. We wanted to see which other conditions are targeted.

Click here to view the chart.

8.) Home Visit Handbook: Structure, Assessments and Protocols for Medically Complex Patients

This resource outlines an innovative home visit pilot for Medicaid and dually eligible patients that reduced unplanned hospital admission days by 71 percent in three months and provides key performance benchmarks on home visit activity in the healthcare industry.

Learn more about this resource.

10.) Telemedicine Technologies: Information Technologies in Medicine and Telehealth

This resource focuses on how medical information can be reliably transmitted through wireless communication networks. It explains how they can be optimized to carry medical information in various situations by utilizing readily available traditional wireless local area network (WLAN) and broadband wireless access (BWA) systems.

Learn more about this resource.

11.) Physician-Hospital Co-Management a Top Trend for 2014

In 2014, physicians will continue to be co-managers, actively engaging in the hospital and overseeing patient experience, quality of care and cost reduction, predicted Steven Valentine, president, The Camden Group, during a Healthcare 2014 strategic planning session.

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12.) Healthcare Trends & Forecasts in 2014: Performance Expectations for the Healthcare Industry

This resource shares industry insights from two healthcare leaders, and provides a handle on what's keeping healthcare CEOs up at night and a dream prescription for sounder program management in 2014.



Learn more about this resource.

13.) Infographic: Leaks in the Healthcare Claim Process

In healthcare's post-reform volume-to-value world, payor reimbursement strategies are tipping in favor of providers who can deliver clinical and financial goods. However, most practice are leaving up to 30 percent of potential revenue on the table due to insufficient internal resources, processes and technology, according to a new infographic from CareCloud. This infographic shows exactly where physicians are losing money, specifically during the pre- and post-visits, and the visit itself.

 Read this blog post.

14.) Aligning Value-Based Reimbursement with Physician Practice Transformation

In its quest to transform 70 to 80 percent of its physician practices to a patient-centered medical home (PCMH) over the next three years, WellPoint has adopted a "meet the practices where they are" philosophy, reports Julie Schilz, director of care delivery transformation for WellPoint. Each practice is at a different place in the transformation effort and requires specialized supports, she adds.  

Smoothing the transformation rollout is the simultaneous participation of 500 WellPoint practices in CMS's Comprehensive Primary Care (CPC) program, whose goals dovetail with key PCMH principles - as though WellPoint had another partner in its transformation initiative, Schilz notes.  

Just as important as practice support is transparency with health plan members, Schilz adds, especially when it comes to explaining the concept of the medical home neighborhood - where care coordination is a collaboration between primary care and the specialist.    

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