Weekly Roundup: Health care news and notes
October 17, 2014 · NCQA
Every Friday NCQA gives a rundown of some of the health care news stories from the past week. Here are some of our picks for this week:
- A unique approach one physician took to getting patients to exercise more [KevinMD]
- Survey finds states expanding Medicaid under ACA expect 18 percent enrollment growth in Fiscal Year 2015 [Kaiser]
- A survey of ACOs examines what a typical ACO looks like [Healthcare Economist]
- More employers are shifting coverage to private health exchanges [Forbes]
- PCMH Initiatives Expanded in 2009–13: Providers, Patients, and Payment Incentives Increased [Commonwealth Fund]
- NCQA President Margaret O’Kane on shared decision making between doctor and patient [newsworks]
- 70 percent of hospitals agreed that public reporting stimulates quality improvement [JAMA]
- There were 114 PCMH payment initiatives serving 20.7M patients in 2013 vs. 26 with 4.9M in 2009 [Health Affairs]
- PCMHs cut medical care costs 6.2 percent for a 6-1 ROI [United Health Group]
- 45 percent of employers are considering private exchanges [NBCH]
- Telehealth consultations are projected to grow from 5.7M this year to 16M next and 130M by 2018 [Parks Associates]
- A single insurer has at least 50 percent commercial market share in 41 percent of metropolitan areas [AMA]
- Massachusetts is requiring insurers to publish prices they pay specific providers for specific services on their websites [CommonHealth]
- 50-state Medicaid Director survey projects a 13 percent fiscal year 2015 rise in Medicaid enrollment vs. 8.3 percent in 2014, with enrollment to rise 18 percent in expansion states vs. 6.8 percent in non-expansion states [Kaiser]
- Only 14 percent of ACOs fully integrate behavioral health and primary care and 37 percent have no formal relationships with behavioral providers, even though 84 percent are accountable for behavioral care [Commonwealth Fund]
