Skip to main content

The Future of Healthcare: Top Trends Providers Need to Address Now


As we emerge from a global pandemic, accountable care organizations must address key new trends now to maintain progress toward value-based care and mitigate financial risk. 

Analytics are key to helping ACOs gain a better understanding of trends so they can identify opportunities to drive quality improvement. These trends include:

  • gaps in access to clinical care; 
  • shifts in patient volume;
  • increased demand for virtual care; and 
  • social determinants of health challenges. 

To better understand rising trends and actions providers should take, we will reach out to hospital and health system leaders to discuss how recent trends influenced their decision to adopt value-based contracts. Then, during our July 28 webinar, we will release a comprehensive market report on these trends and implications for the future.

Preventing gaps in access to clinical care

Advanced payment models incentivize ACOs to deliver high-quality care and close gaps in care for patients, thereby earning shared savings and increasing margins. Using data analytics, providers can gain valuable insight into their performance and identify opportunities for improvement. To address gaps in access to clinical care, providers should leverage analytics to guide deployment of resources and development of new programs, such as new virtual care technologies, to drive quality improvement.

Shifts in patient volume 

While patient volumes that dropped at the start of the pandemic are now rebounding, providers are beginning to shift toward expansion of digital delivery models and increasing their service line offerings to stay engaged with patients outside the hospital. Providers should invest in the right technology infrastructure to stay in communication with patients to identify gaps in patient care, improve the quality of care delivery and track quality metrics and performance.

Accelerated demand for virtual care

Before the pandemic, telehealth was underutilized in most markets due to limited reimbursement to rural providers and restricted use in some alternative payment models. Thanks to reimbursement changes during the pandemic that reformed telehealth payment policy, there has been an increased uptake. Providers must be more strategic in how they develop virtual offerings to meet consumer demand and attract payer partners. 

Identifying and addressing social determinants of health

COVID-19 shined a light on existing health inequities. Medicare and Medicaid populations, already susceptible to social determinants of health such as poor nutrition, transportation challenges and increased rates of depression and anxiety, grew sicker due to gaps in access to care. To address these challenges, CMS issued guidance to state Medicaid directors to incorporate value-based strategies that provide Medicaid beneficiaries with efficient, high-quality care, while lowering costs and improving health outcomes. Providers should adopt value-based care arrangements that present opportunities for addressing challenges caused by social determinants of health.

Conclusion

The rapid changes in healthcare driven by the pandemic have only further emphasized the need for providers to lean into value-based care. New regulatory flexibilities and care delivery innovation create an opportunity for providers to realize a more rapid rate of return on their investment in value-based care by enhancing their business revenue with value-based care reimbursement. 

Contact us to learn how your organization can leverage data to get ahead and determine the impact of new healthcare trends, assess risk and adopt key strategies to improve patient outcomes. We also invite you to listen to our webinar with healthcare thought leaders, Future of Healthcare: Top Trends Providers Need to Address Now.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

BPCI Advanced – take advantage of the model extension now

The Bundled Payment for Care Improvement (BPCI) Advanced Model is now open for applications until May 31, 2023. This model provides a unique opportunity to acute care hospitals and physician group practices who are looking to: evaluate their bundle performance; rejoin if they have previously dropped out due to being under a convener; or take advantage of the changes to the model. With a small window to sign the participation agreement, you’ll need experts to process data quickly and accurately for evaluation. BPCI Advanced Program Details The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in October 2022 that this program will extend from January 2024 to December 2025. Data used for evaluation will be taken from the baseline period between October 2018 and September 2022. A participation agreement will be sent out in September 2023 and needs to be signed by October 2023 in order to participate. Those who apply before the May 31 deadline will benefit

You’ve been accepted to the Enhancing Oncology Model. Now what?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Innovation Center recently announced approved applicants for the new Enhancing Oncology Model. If your facility has been selected by CMS, are you still weighing your options during the current baseline evaluation period?  Two deciding factors may include the program data that CMS provides and whether EOM is enough of an improvement over the prior Oncology Care Model to make your investment worthwhile. Another factor to consider: Will you have the resources in place to conduct a baseline evaluation before EOM’s program start on July 1, 2023? How EOM differs from OCM EOM aims to improve the coordination of oncology care, drive practice transformation and reduce Medicare fee-for-service spending through episode-based payment. It includes three major updates: Fewer cancer types. Compared with OCM’s 21, EOM will be limited to seven common cancer types: breast, prostate, lung, small intestine/colorectal, multiple myeloma, lymphoma and chronic le

3 Major Areas to Focus on After Receiving NCQA PCMH Recognition

First off, congratulations to you and your practice for achieving National Committee for Quality Assurance Patient-Centered Medical Home recognition! Gaining NCQA PCMH status is a big accomplishment for which you should be very proud. Now that you’ve completed the necessary steps to implement changes and earn recognition, you may be wondering what’s next. In this guide, we’ll navigate what to do next, PCMH standards and guidelines to follow and 2024 annual reporting requirements to focus on. Let’s get into it! What to do after earning NCQA PCMH recognition Before you’re ready to start earning the great benefits of PCMH recognition , you need to plan what actions you’ll take to maintain your status. Remember, PCMH is not a project, but a continual progression of the way care is delivered to patients, meeting them where they are. So, if you’re a practice that wishes to keep its PCMH, you’ll need to be accountable for each criterion you achieved when initially receiving PCMH recognition.