Amanda Buie

ACOs are paving the way for a healthcare payment model that is based on quality and efficiency instead of volume. They were created as a response to health reform initiatives that focus on improving patient safety, quality of care and affordability. As the name suggests, ACOs are institutions that collectively share the risks associated with […]

A recent article in the WSJ displayed how improving the health of patients is tied to being able to see the big picture. It just so happens that to improve the health of an organization, there is also a need to see the big picture, which requires having access to data. Research has shown that […]

Research suggests that an effective healthcare model focusing solely on evidence-based medicine or preventative does not impact cost and quality as well as programs that merge evidence-based medicine with a healthcare program that encourages preventative care and evidence-based medicine (Cohen, Neumann & Weinstein, 2008). As a result, organizations that are focused on containing costs and […]

Patients are demanding affordable healthcare, providers are asking for fair reimbursements and payors are suggesting that rendered care should be medically necessary and of high quality to be reimbursed. It is a rather convoluted situation where accountability lives with each player – but is legally placed on the provider (for the most part). After all, […]

While we discuss the ICD-9 to ICD-10 conversion mandate, many people are questioning the value of such a change. Questioning change is a good thing, but by now we all know that updating from an outdated 1970s code set to a more modern 1990s code set is critical for providers to be accurately compensated for […]

Industry Today Healthcare ranks as the largest industry in the world and is responsible for generating over $4.5 billion in revenue. While the United States is home to only 5% of the total world population, US residences are responsible for nearly half ($2.2 billion) of annual healthcare expenditures. The industry provides employment to over 15 […]

When it comes to healthcare there are two main problems: Quality of care and cost. It has been suggested that these issues can be solved with data – data that is available and useful but fails to be transferred and properly communicated to practitioners. If this information is properly transferred amongst providers via HIEs then […]

Providers are increasing their reliance on cloud technology to better address organizational hiccups and bottlenecks. Why? Because cloud technology allows resources to be accessed on demand, which results in a more effective and efficient work force, stronger operations and better customer care. It is a low-cost option that blows the competition out of the water. […]

The point of healthcare technology is to close the gap between quality, cost and access. As we have said before, EMRs don’t close the gap, but they are a very necessary piece to closing the gap. However, a gap still exists between the information in an EMR and the information a clinician needs in the […]

The newest announcement regarding Meaningful Stage II requirements was made on February 22, 2012, and met an equal balance of fanfare and disappointment from the healthcare sector. Apparently, a fair number of players were hoping that Stage II of Meaningful Use would raise the bar to better tie HIT adoptions, such as EHRs, to improvements […]

It’s been nearly 15 years since the Joint Commission launched their first national hospital quality program, which required hospitals report on performance measures. The initial result of the performance measures was a hodgepodge of data gathered non-systematically and was rarely used to improve the quality of care. Today’s landscape of quality measures looks much different. […]

Paying healthcare providers to meet defined quality goals has experienced an uptick in acceptance and appeal lately. Given the fact that the quality of care in the United States has been unresponsive to decades worth of public reporting and benchmarking efforts, one can’t help but to wonder if a financial incentive to providers and physicians […]