quality
What We’re Reading
Pharma lobbyists flooded Maryland to block a drug-pricing bill. Opponents pushed back – and won. STAT – The story behind the story of how a group of consumer advocates and legislators were able to prevail over Pharma’s considerable resources to get a bill passed to push back on sky high drug prices and protect consumers…
Read MoreSIM primary care capitation proposal gets another tepid reception
This week, SIM presented to the Healthcare Cabinet their proposal to capitate primary care, initially for Medicare members, but eventually for all state residents. The proposal is to move primary care to capitated “bundles” – one for basic primary care services and a voluntary, supplemental payment for expanded activities such as infrastructure and HIT and…
Read MoreYNHH answers latest questions about controversial primary care proposal
Monday Yale-New Haven Health System and their community health center partners answered the latest set of questions from the state Office of Health Strategy (formerly OHCA) to their controversial plan to move primary care services for 28,000 low-income New Haven residents out of the current neighborhood sites to Log Wharf. Under the proposal, patients’ care…
Read MoreCTNJ: ACOs may be the new HMOs, And they need a watchdog
Care for a growing number of Connecticut residents is being directed by an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) and very few patients know it. Read more
Read MoreControversial YNHH/clinic plan delayed over a year, deep concerns remain
In response to questions from state regulators, YNHH announced that their controversial plan to shift care for 28,500 mainly low-income New Haven area residents to a new site, far from neighborhoods and to shift Medicaid billing for those patients to the two community health centers will be delayed until late Summer 2020. The delay allows…
Read MoreMedicare penalizing fifteen CT hospitals for patient safety problems this year
This year, fifteen Connecticut hospitals will receive 1% less payment from Medicare because of infections and patient injures, according to Kaiser Health News. Nationally, 800 hospitals are penalized this year. Five of the CT fifteen in Connecticut are part of the 110 hospitals nationally that have been penalized every year for patient safety since 2015…
Read MoreMixed results from great study on Medicaid behavioral health interventions
Yesterday’s MAPOC Complex Care Committee meeting focused on results of an adult high behavioral health need member initiative by Beacon, Medicaid’s behavioral health administrator. The program serves high utilizers of hospital services with behavioral health needs providing intensive care management by teams of clinicians and peer specialists. Medicaid members with high behavioral health needs were…
Read MoreMedicaid update: Quality improving but lots of work to do
Friday’s Medicaid Council meeting focused on quality performance in the program. The good news – ED visits and readmissions continue dropping across the program, although community health centers’ performance remains a problem Well-child visit and lead screening rates are higher than the national average Routine care is increasing and inpatient care is decreasing The bad…
Read MoreComments to DSS opposing increase in PCMH Plus funding for program that didn’t improve quality and increased state costs
Read the full comments Thank you for this opportunity to oppose this amendment to add an additional $600,000 to the growing costs of PCMH Plus, the experimental new Medicaid shared savings program. The state cannot afford to spend more on this program that, in 2017 its first year, did not improve the quality of care…
Read MoreWeak answers to state’s second set of questions about YNHH primary care plan for New Haven
Yesterday, Yale-New Haven submitted answers to the state’s second set of questions about their controversial plan to shift care for 28,500 mainly low-income people to a new site, far from neighborhoods. They also plan to shift Medicaid billing for those patients to New Haven’s two community health centers “for increased reimbursement through the FQHC enhanced…
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