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Wednesday, October 25, 2017
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As Congress debated changing how Medicaid is financed, 26 states moved to expand benefits—more than in any other year. At least 17 plan to expand Medicaid in 2018, according to a new Kaiser Family Foundation report. While the most common benefit expansions were for dental services or for behavioral health/substance use disorders (to address opioid overuse), several added coverage for telehealth and Oregon added coverage for oral contraceptives prescribed by a pharmacist. (
Kaiser Health News;
report)
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The Association for Behavioral Health and Wellness wants the administration’s opioid crisis commission to give Medicaid managed care organizations, private health plans and pharmacy benefit managers access to prescription drug monitoring data to identify members seeking opioids from multiple providers. The Commission’s draft recommendations called for enhanced data sharing between state and federal authorities, but came short of giving access to providers. (
FierceHealthcare;
testimony)
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Innovation & Transformation
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Every state except Connecticut and Massachusetts has actively modified laws or enacted new telehealth laws since June 2016. The rapid pace of change is evident in payments, with CMS reporting a 28 percent increase in Medicare payments for telehealth services in 2016. A new report from Epstein Becker Green offers an analysis on laws, regulations and regulatory policies affecting the practice of telehealth in all 50 states and the District of Columbia. (
Becker’s Hospital Review;
Epstein Becker Green survey report)
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With Amazon set to announce whether it will enter the pharmacy market within the month, experts say its foray is likely, but will be gradual and evolving. Entering the market as a pharmacy benefit manager would provide it greater purchasing power and better margins than jumping in as a brick-and-mortar business. Another likely scenario is a focus on mail order services to leverage its supply chain management prowess. (
The Street;
Forbes)
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Nearly nine in 10 patients want more time with physicians during office visits, and only 14 percent of physicians say they have all the time they need to provide the highest standard of care, according to a new survey from the nonprofit Physicians Foundation. The same proportion said they’re concerned about health care costs affecting them in the future. Prescription drug costs are perceived to be the chief factor for high health care costs, followed by the absence of a free market. (
HealthLeaders Media;
survey report)
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Harnessing the full potential of health IT will require new focus on people and their data, and on how patients can use it in their daily lives, according to a new blog post from UCSF’s Center for Digital Health Innovation. As providers bemoan the burden of EHRs on workflow, patient access to their records has accelerated from 30-90 days a few years ago to 36 to 48 hours under Meaningful Use Stage 3. “The emphasis on the experience of doctors in using their EHRs may lead us to ignore the equal importance of winning the hearts and minds of patients who seek the digital access and tools needed for shared care and care planning with their doctors.” (
New England Journal of Medicine
blog)
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IRS will reject returns without proof of insurance:
Despite President Trump's executive order to administratively dismantle Obamacare where agencies can do so, the IRS will reject electronically-filed tax returns if the filer doesn’t complete information about health insurance coverage. Paper filers without the attestation won’t receive a refund without either providing the information or paying the penalty. (
The New York Times)
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Athenahealth to cut 9 percent of its workforce:
With an anticipated $4 million financial loss from hurricanes Irma and Harvey in the works, Athenahealth announced it will close offices in San Francisco and Princeton, N.J. and cut about 500 jobs by the end of 2018. The company’s third quarter was up 10 percent over last year, but fell short of growth projections. (
FierceHealthcare)
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Hospitals meet two goals by investing in housing programs for the homeless: Reduced unnecessary emergency department visits, plus tax credits for low-income housing investments. “There’s pretty good evidence that it’s more cost-effective to provide housing with supports than have these people live on the streets and just cycle in and out of emergency rooms and in-patient stays,” said RAND researcher Sarah Hunter. (
National Public Radio)
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MarketVoices...quotes worth reading
“Imagine if you bought cable television service, but the programs were not available unless you drove to the cable provider's office to view them there. Or you deposited your money at the bank, but could only access it by making a withdrawal in person at the bank branch during business hours. The shared care and care planning we all seek for better care, better health, and better value require that we focus on the patient's perspective as well as the doctor's perspective."
– Robert M. Wachter, Michael Blum, Aaron Neinstein and Mark Savage of UCSF's Center for Digital Health Innovation, as quoted in a blog in the
New England Journal of Medicine.
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Editor
Sandy Mau
Roxanna Guilford-Blake
703.394.5395
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Copyright 2009-2017,
H2R Minutes
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