Halamka on MACRA Final Rule: “CMS is Listening and I Thank Them”

Halamka on MACRA Final Rule: “CMS is Listening and I Thank Them” | Healthcare Informatics Magazine | Health IT | Information Technology



Thank them?  They work for Americans and shouldn't be thanked for keeping the "burden" lighter than it could be.  What's the payoff for Americans to the government imposing any burdens on providers off our care?  I fear the policy wonks and theologians over healthcare have priorities and mission badly screwed up.

HHS finalizes streamlined Medicare payment system that rewards clinicians for quality patient care

It's MACRAolypse.



HHS finalizes streamlined Medicare payment system that rewards clinicians for quality patient care

CMS Answers Family Physicians' Questions About MACRA

CMS Answers Family Physicians' Questions About MACRA: CMS officials answered family physicians' questions about the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act during a standing-room-only meeting at the 2016 Annual Chapter Leader Forum.

AMA Releases Value-Based Care, MACRA Resources for Providers

AMA Releases Value-Based Care, MACRA Resources for Providers

Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative: General Information | Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation

Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) Initiative: General Information | Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation



Just saving this to add to my list of links.  Trying to start some threads on experiences with these bundled payment arrangements.

Data Governance as a Field of Study | David Raths | Healthcare Blogs

Data Governance as a Field of Study | David Raths | Healthcare Blogs



Data Herding may make more sense than Governance....



...anyways, a link to the papers here: http://repository.edm-forum.org/egems/vol4/iss2/

Transitional Chaos or Enduring Harm? The EHR and the Disruption of Medicine — NEJM

Transitional Chaos or Enduring Harm? The EHR and the Disruption of Medicine — NEJM: Perspective from The New England Journal of Medicine — Transitional Chaos or Enduring Harm? The EHR and the Disruption of Medicine

Politico Morning E Health: Vanishing VistA

My thoughts on this one coming...

VANISHING VISTA?: Rep. Phil Roe, who has seen plenty of twists in the VA-DoD EHR saga in his seven years on the Veterans Affairs committee, was not surprised to hear of another turn last week –“it’s the gift that keeps on giving,” he said. At an appropriations hearing, the VA’s CIO, Laverne Council, said the agency had pulled back $40 million from the budget of its VistA update program and was considering whether to ditch the fabled EHR. 

— Roe, a physician from Tennessee and head of the GOP Doctors Caucus, thinks that might be a good idea. If the VA decides to go commercial, Roe said, “I hope they use the same system” as the Pentagon (that would be Cerner). Roe noted that the Cerner contract to replace the Pentagon’s EHR stands at less than $4 billion, despite earlier estimates of up to $11 billion. It may be cheaper, in the long run, to replace VistA rather than updating it repeatedly, he told us. This idea troubles many IT specialists who have worked with VistA. The EHR has pieces that need replacement, they say, but its basic functionality is as good as Epic, Cerner or any other hospital EHR, and it would be a shame to toss a system that has evolved over the decades to fit the needs of VA clinicians.

Read more: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-ehealth/2016/03/opioid-abuse-in-tech-crosshairs-213071#ixzz42EOTuAlp

Cerner Opens Smart on FHIR Developer Website | Healthcare Informatics Magazine | Health IT | Information Technology

Cerner Opens Smart on FHIR Developer Website | Healthcare Informatics Magazine | Health IT | Information Technology

Hospitals Lagging Behind in Population Health Management

Hospitals Lagging Behind in Population Health Management