What is the relationship between primary care and care coordination? Most patients, particularly those who are critically ill or elderly, see more than one medical care provider. They are referred to specialists or sent to outside medical facilities for tests or procedures. Primary care coordination is a critical piece of overall care management for these […]

Yesterday, Senate Republicans announced that they lacked enough votes to move their legislation to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, forward. With this latest bill effectively dead, policy analysts believe an overhaul of Obamacare is less likely than before. What’s happened so far? In March 2017, the American Health […]

Yesterday, Senate Republicans released a newly revised draft of the Better Care Reconciliation Act (BCRA) in hopes of passing the bill through a divided Congress. Though the bill does not change any of the fundamental aspects of its original version, lawmakers made several significant changes in an effort to sway specific Republican lawmakers on the […]

Direct care, the patient-centered model of care that forgoes insurance in favor of a retainer fee and closer patient relationships, is one of the fastest growing movements among independent physicians. As the direct care community grows, new physicians looking to start their practices and existing direct care practices need resources and tools to scale up […]

Outside Dr. Fong’s front office, a vibrant pink sign reads, “We Keep Our Patients Healthier! Our Patients go into Hospital 25% Less Than the Average in This Area.” In a time where providers are under increasing scrutiny to reduce their average cost-per-patient, independent practices are more mindful than ever about the burden of delivering quality […]

At the practice level, accurate data is imperative for appropriate patient treatment plans and for reimbursement purposes. When data is not accurate, mistakes can be made. Accurate data is also important at the administrative level, when efforts are made to track provider information to ensure records are current. The Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare (CAQH) […]

While Congress continues to debate and rework the nation’s health care plan, many uncertainties linger. As of July 2017, the future of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), also known as Obamacare, or any revision of the ACA remains unclear. Regardless of what happens with the ACA, however, there are a number of healthcare trends that […]

Keeping up with healthcare and finding the right information can be challenging and time-consuming – especially for independent physicians that would rather direct any much-needed time toward their patients. In order to make it easier for physicians provide care, we recently launched seven new targeted blogs that cover some of the healthcare topics independent physicians […]

Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) is a Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) incentive program aimed at improving patient health and outcomes by augmenting the way Primary Care Physicians get paid. CPC+ adds monthly Care Management Fees, the standard Medicare Fee Schedule based payments, as well as incentive payments based on performance in the […]

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a proposed rule for 2018 that marks the first major changes to the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). This proposed rule, which totals 1,058 pages, “would make changes in the second year of MACRA’s Quality Payment Program (QPP), with the aim […]