Hospital systems across the country are looking to serve as both care provider and insurer. Kaiser Health News looks at what is driving this new trend and its possible impact on consumers. Read more. . . Continue reading »
Category Archives: Providers
Swedish & Providence Alliance
The Seattle Times reports that the merger between Swedish Health Services and Providence Health & Services is now complete. Read more here. Continue reading »
Patient Centered Medical Homes Continue to Show Distinguished Performance Compared to Peers
This article, submitted by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, compares data from Patient Centered Medical Homes with their primary care peers. The study finds that PCMHs perform much better on various cost and utilization metrics. Continue reading »
Promising Payment Reform: Risk-Sharing with Accountable Care Organizations
The Commonwealth Fund has issued this report which summarizes research on ACO shared risk payment models. Key findings from the research: Payer–provider shared-risk models are in an early developmental phase; there are few operational shared-risk models aside from the traditional capitated HMO model. There are varying definitions of shared risk, and shared-risk initiatives use a variety … Continue reading »
Local Voices: Dr. Kevin Haughton
In the latest installment of Local Voices, Dr. Kevin Haughton, Director of the Providence St. Peter Family Medicine Residency Program, offers some perspectives about areas of the delivery system that health reform has potential to address–along with some areas where the law may overreach…and fall short. Click here for a transcript of the interview. Continue reading »
A call to action
In this video interview, Dr. David Lynch, Medical Director of Family Care Network in Whatcom County, provides highlights from his talk: “Some things you should know about health care reform law.” He talks about what the healthcare reform law does and does not address, and makes the case for organizing caregivers in the region into … Continue reading »
HHS awards $727 million to nation’s community health centers
The U. S. Department of Health and Human Services has recently announced the award of over $700 million to community health centers (CHCs) nationwide, with the aim of bringing healthcare to 745,000 underserved patients as part of national reform. In Whatcom County, Interfaith Community Health Center was awarded $1,073,919. Other Washington CHCs receiving funding are: … Continue reading »
