November, 2018, Vol. 2 - In This Issue:
I'm thankful for health care innovation that brings the promise of better treatment and potential cure, for scientists whose work helps all of us understand both breakthroughs and best ways to prevent disease and most of all for my own ability to access and engage in health care when my family or I need it. May we find a way to create common understanding of what we value in our health care and focus our energies on achieving that vision using every scientific, medical, social and payment resource available. It's long overdue.

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Are bundled payments ready for liftoff?

If you've been tracking healthcare payment during the past several years, you know the industry has made tremendous progress in the proportion of payments tied to value. While there are mixed results on the effectiveness of these alternative payment arrangements (and still the need for further evaluation of which payment methods are most effective in what context), one model that shows promise is still facing barriers to lift off.

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A panel of doctors and researchers compiled the annual list based on an innovation's potential to improve patient outcomes and transform healthcare.. 

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Physicians are trapped between patient satisfaction and unnecessary prescribing
   
I don't mean to pick on McDonald's. Insert any other large retail business where customer satisfaction massively trumps every other consideration of the relationship between employee and customer.

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Without more stewardship, superbugs could kill thousands more Americans annually by 2050

Each year, as many as 2 million Americans acquire antibiotic-resistant infections and 23,000 die from them, according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Meanwhile, the rate of antibiotic-resistant infections in children rose 700% between 2007 and 2017.
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Training the Next Generation of Doctors and Nurses

For decades, medical education has followed a timeworn path - heaps of book learning and lectures, then clinical rotations exposing students to patients.
But as technology explodes into patient care (surgeons can preview operations using virtual 3-D images built from a patient's scans), the gap between medical education and real-world care has "become a chasm," said Marc Triola, director of N.Y.U.

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Dr. Mark Smith's Five Tasks for the Healthcare Sector

A good keynote address gets us to challenge our assumptions and consider some new possibilities in our field, often bringing in ideas from other disciplines or markets. That is what Mark Smith, M.D., M.B.A. founding president and CEO of the California Health Care Foundation, did last week at the annual meeting of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) in Washington, D.C.

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Soaring Health-Care Costs Forced This Family to Choose Who Can Stay Insured

David and Maribel Maldonado seem the very definition of making it in America. David arrived in the U.S. from Mexico as a small child. His father supported the family by working long hours as a mechanic while his mother raised their 10 children. By the time David had a family of his own, his career as a salesman was flourishing.

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Why providers need to consider patient perspective when addressing diagnostic errors

Diagnostic errors are a significant contributor to patient harm. To address the problem, providers need to spend more time listening to patients' experiences, according to a new study.
Researchers  examined data from 465 patients who reported a diagnostic error between January 2010 and February 2016. From those reports, they identified 184 different "narratives" for how patients experienced those errors. 

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Healthcare waste is costing billions - and clients aren't doing anything about it

Providing the workforce with healthcare coverage is expensive, but a new survey of 126 employers suggests a large chunk of that cost is being wasted by the healthcare industry on treatments patients don't need.

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Can providers help patients by partnering with pharma on digital health? Geisinger says yes

Many would say the healthcare system is broken. Its hardware is defective, producing high prices and subpar outcomes. Collaboration and coordination require a concerted effort, as though the wires connecting its components are tangled and frayed.


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