Archive for June 2014
SIM update: PCMH standards affirmed but rushing into a radical Medicaid payment change
The good news: At yesterday’s meeting the SIM steering committee voted to accept their workgroup’s recommendation to use NCQA national standards, with some CT-specific additions, as the patient-centered medical home (PCMH) standard for the SIM glide path program. SIM will work with NCQA to develop the additional standards, possibly to include oral and behavioral health…
Read MoreGood news on SIM and PCMH national standards
The new SIM Practice Transformation Workgroup met last night for the first time and support for patient-centered medical home national standards was strong. Advocates have been strong supporters of national standards for PCMHs over a CT-specific program. There is growing evidence that PCMHs that meet national standards perform better on quality, enhance access to care…
Read MoreAdvocates’ comment urging DSS not to erode successful PCMH standards in Medicaid regulations
Eighteen consumer organizations signed onto a letter of comment sent yesterday making the case that DSS should continue using successful national standards for patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) in new Medicaid regulations. Original versions of draft language included the current practice of adopting NCQA national standards for PCMH recognition and incentives. However, without notice, national standard…
Read MoreSIM committee to discuss PCMH national home standards
The first meeting of the SIM Practice Management Taskforce will re-visit SIM’s earlier decision to reject national standards for patient-centered medical homes. National standards, such as NCQA, have been very successful nationally and in CT in improving health outcomes while controlling costs. Advocates have serious concerns about eroding standards that promote quality care and ensure…
Read MoreComparative effectiveness opportunity guide for New England OB-Gyn services
The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) has produced a comprehensive analysisof opportunities to reduce overtreatment from the Choosing Wisely list of five overused treatments identified by the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. ICER’s report focuses on New England including analysis of current regional utilization patterns, the feasibility of practice change, resources for…
Read MoreSIM update – good news but new concerns
Last week’s SIM steering committee included some good news but new concerns. Based on public comment from independent advocatessupporting national standards for patient-centered medical homes and urging SIM to reconsider their decision to create a CT-specific standard, wasting time and resources to fix something that is not broken and working well. In response, the committee…
Read MoreMedicaid Council update
The agenda for last week’s Medicaid Council meeting was very full. We reviewed DSS’s latest ConneCT Dashboard. More clients are using the online system, but more are also walking into a DSS office. The backlog of documents to be scanned is gone and last month the online system was never down. However, the call abandonment…
Read MoreCabinet update – DSS/exchange IT and SIM updates
The SIM update included a description of the recent funding application release. All drafts for the grant will only go through the Steering Committee. It was clarified that the “owners” of the SIM process are the related state agencies. SIM intends to “align” CT’s health priorities with the federal grant. Concerns were raised that the…
Read MoreNew Brief: Patient-centered medical homes are working in CT, but standards are at risk
Patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) are working well in CT. There is growing national and state evidence that certified PCMHs improve health care access and outcomes while controlling costs. PCMHs are a new way of delivering health care that uses a team of providers to coordinate care and help people keep themselves healthy. CT’s Medicaid program…
Read MoreData breach at Access Health CT, troubling for APCD future
Friday afternoon a backpack was found on a Hartford street with sensitive information on about 400 Access Health CT customers. The backpack included four notepads with handwritten names, social security numbers and dates of birth, as well as internal Access Health CT papers. People whose information was breached have been contacted and offered credit monitoring…
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