The rules of reimbursement are gradually changing, but in the healthcare game, no timeout can be called. No wonder those in the field are feeling a little dizzy and disoriented. Forced to deal with a mixture of fee-for-service and value-based reimbursements, providers feel as if they have “a foot in…
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The final transition to value-based care is still years away, with many obstacles yet to overcome, but those who’ve begun the journey appear to be finding it somewhat less treacherous than they’d imagined. Recent research strongly suggests that both healthcare executives and payers are becoming less worried and more optimistic…
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Why settle for a second opinion when you can get opinions from 50 of the greatest physicians in the world? Or 100? Or 500? That, in a nutshell, is what artificial intelligence (AI) can bring to health care: the ability to synthesize vast amounts of knowledge and data, thereby harnessing…
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As technology continues to surge forward — 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without ever taking a break — consumers have continually proven that they’re more than happy to go along for the ride. Which means that those who serve them, and who crave their loyalty, must also…
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Is there any hope for what some call the “siloed, episodic, reactive nature of U.S. healthcare, whereby patients seek care only after potentially costly health complications occur, and physicians are only reimbursed for expensive in-person office visits that may not reflect the day-to-day reality of the patient experience of living…
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Like an ocean liner trying to execute a 180-degree turn, healthcare is slowly pivoting away from the traditional fee-for-service model, and turning toward value-based systems. There were some early success stories, but the process seems to be moving painfully slowly. Most recently, mixed signals from Washington may have given providers…
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It’s well established that patients with late-stage disease can benefit greatly from palliative care, but recent research suggests that they’re not the only ones with something to gain. Hospitals appear to benefit, too, in the form of substantially reduced costs. A new study that incorporates data culled from more than 130,000 patients…
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Shopping for healthcare, says one expert, is very different than shopping at the local mall. “And it always should be,” he adds emphatically. His point is well taken. Discussions about healthcare consumerism often seem to fall back on comparisons to car and TV shopping. Millennials and their younger cousins, the…
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The transition to value-based reimbursement, with its emphasis on the entire continuum of care, is bound to lead to some uneasy partnerships among caregivers. But those who forge successful collaborations across specialties and disciplines will be the best positioned to reap the potential benefits of the shift away from fee-for-service…
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The easy answer as to why people delay, or completely avoid, getting the medical care they need is money. Especially in this era of proliferating high-deductible health plans (HDHPs), the thinking goes, health care consumers can’t or won’t abide the prospect of shelling out thousands of dollars before their benefits…
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