Moving Intelligent Change Forward
September, 2017 Vol. 1 - In This Issue:
Disasters, epidemics and other crises have the odd benefit of uniting our minds and actions toward the highest priority - health and welfare. It's amazing that beyond such events, we seem destined to make sub-optimal trade-offs in the name of politics, budget gaming and fear. I continue to see studies that show that working with patients and measuring outcomes that matter to them can have significant positive impact on treatment choices and on their adherence to and satisfaction with care.  Real-world data analytics have the potential to reveal important proof of this concept.  What stands in our way? First, we need to focus resources on the engagement and connection with patients, not just the technologies. Second, we need to take access off the table as a barrier. Basic, essential, health care should be available to anyone regardless of age, disability, geography, or income. Then we can get to the hard(er) work: improving quality, finding what works best for an individual patient, providing chronic and catastrophic care, and cost.

Humana turns to big data in value-based initiative with Amgen 
binary-beams-abstract.jpg
Louisville, Ky.-based Humana has partnered with Thousand Oaks, Calif.-based biotechnology company Amgen to improve its insurance customers' health outcomes with data analytics research.

greyscale-dr-advice.jpg
Measuring What Matters to Patients:
Innovations in Integrating the Patient Experience into Development of Meaningful Performance Measures
  
 
 
To make a meaningful shift to patient-centeredness, quality measurement needs to focus on patient priorities. This can only be accomplished through broad engagement of patients during measure development and implementation.

elder-woman-handshake.jpg
Improving Older Adults' Health: Creating Solutions With -Not For- Them

With the best of intentions, foundations and nonprofit organizations often design and support programs based on what they think the people they serve need and want. But in the end, they discover they have designed solutions that miss the mark-their programs aren't used, and they don't get the outcomes that they expected.

wheelchair-man-windows.jpg
Helping Patients Make More Informed Postacute Care Choices 

Each year, roughly three million Medicare beneficiaries are hospitalized for a serious condition and discharged to a postacute setting such as a home health agency or skilled nursing facility. For many of these patients, the transition from hospital to postacute care starts with being asked to decide where and from whom they will receive critical rehabilitative care, just as they are beginning to recover from the preceding health event.  

young-family-portrait.jpg
To Insure More Poor Children, It Helps If Parents Are On Medicaid

Efforts by Republican lawmakers to scale back Medicaid enrollment could undercut an aspect of the program that has widespread bipartisan appeal - covering more children,  research published Tuesday  in the journal Health Affairs suggests.
 
business-meeting-convo.jpg
MassHealth Partners with 17 Health Care Organizations to Improve Health Care Outcomes for Members
  
 

The Baker-Polito Administration announced today that 17 health care organizations across the state have executed agreements to participate in a major restructuring of the MassHealth program.  Effective March 1, 2018, Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), networks of physicians, hospitals and other community based health care providers, will be financially accountable for cost, quality, and member experience for over 850,000 MassHealth members.  
 
financial_advisor_chart.jpg
Improving Population Health Management Strategies: Identifying Patients Who Are More Likely to Be Users of Avoidable Costly Care 

Objective: To explore using the Patient Activation Measure (PAM) for identifying patients more likely to have ambulatory care-sensitive (ACS) utilization and future increases in chronic disease.  

Passion + Quality = Change That Matters
  
I embrace the powerful opportunities in our evolving health care landscape. I founded Momentum Health Strategies to be a catalyst for change through continuous learning, diverse engagement and thoughtful policy and practice initiatives. I deliver innovative, strategic thinking and a passion for improving the patient experience. My personal drive and dedication to high-quality results will help you navigate the competitive terrain you face and convert your vision to action.

Momentum Health Strategies

Jennifer L Bright, MPA
(703) 628 - 0534