May 28, 2021 | Managed Care Friday
This week’s column includes some of the most read items of the past two years and a few new ones. Happy Memorial Day! $4,229: The average total savings when using bundled payment programs for surgeries, according to a Rand study of one payer’s program in which procedures including knee and hip replacements, spinal fusion and bariatric weight loss surgeries used a set bundled payment for all care within a 30-day period. Finding Oneself In A Non-Binary: Healthcare is getting an education on the fly of how to manage and document their encounters with patients who are non-binary. My 78-year-old...
May 27, 2021 | Behavioral
Recent developments in psychology and psychiatry include mixed Medicare FFS spending trends and mostly positive FFS reimbursement trends resulting from E&M reform. Click to read more.
May 25, 2021 | Behavioral, Substance Abuse
In April 2021, the Biden Administration released two guidelines for mental health services: lifting the training requirement to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid-use disorder treatment and detailing new documentation requirements for health plans offering mental health and substance abuse benefits. Click to read more.
May 21, 2021 | Managed Care Friday
6: The number of independent physician associations in Philadelphia that merged to create the Constitution Physician Alliance network. The group includes over 200 specialists and primary care physicians, and will collaborate to focus on disease prevention and reducing hospital admissions. The network is managed by CareAllies, a Cigna company. A Whole New World: Disney is embracing telehealth. As part of Disney World’s partnership with Florida health system AdventHealth, the theme park will now make connected health services available to guests, employees and others, including a telehealth...
May 18, 2021 | Physician Fee Schedule, Physicians
Recent developments in allergy include decreases in Medicare FFS spending, mixed FFS reimbursement changes, and more commercial plan interest in establishing asthma related value-based arrangements. Click to read more.
May 14, 2021 | Managed Care Friday
4: Number of hospitals HCA is selling in Georgia to Piedmont Healthcare, the Atlanta-based clinically integrated network. The sale gives Piedmont 15 hospitals, reducing HCA’s footprint in the state to 5 hospitals. But HCA appears to be increasingly focusing on post-acute and home-based care, having acquired a majority stake in Brookdale Senior Living’s home health, hospice, and outpatient therapy business earlier in the year. Piedmont is also picking up 3 additional hospitals in the Augusta region through another deal, announced soon after the HCA news. Where’s The Beef: Tyson Foods is...
