Independent Docs on the Losing End of Reimbursement; Investment Key to Patient Experience Efforts
Independent docs aren't faring as well as their hospital-employed colleagues when it comes to reimbursement. Money is also top of mind for patient experience.
Source: Getty Images
By - The tide appears to be turning on the coronavirus pandemic, with vaccinations outpacing new cases of the disease. With the light at the end of the tunnel now visible, attention is focused on navigating a way out of the new normal back to tackling longstanding challenges around reimbursement, access, and outcomes.
INDEPENDENT PHYSICIANS TRAILING HOSPITAL DOCS
A new study shows that Medicare physician reimbursement is higher for physicians integrated with a hospital system. A recent Health Serves Research study of integrated and non-integrated physicians who billed Medicare between Jan. 1, 2010, and Dec. 31, 2016, found that Medicare physician reimbursement would have been $114,000 higher per physician a year if a physician were integrated compared to working in a physician practice. READ MORE
FUNDING, STAFFING VITAL TO PATIENT EXPERIENCE
Healthcare is increasingly digitizing as calls for contactless registration and virtual care visits become the norm. But the latest technology is not the sole driver of better patient experience, revealed Insights' latest report. Results show that the most significant barrier to improving patient experience is limited financial resources (43%). Close to a third of hospitals and health systems (32%) claim that limited financial resources impede their patient experience efforts. READ MORE
THE NUANCES OF VACCINE HESITANCY
A new study out of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing highlights the relationship between COVID‐19 vaccine hesitancy and race, sexual identity, medical mistrust, and social concern. Sexual and gender minorities who reported medical mistrust were less likely to accept a COVID‐19 vaccine. Also, Black respondents reported decreased COVID‐19 vaccine acceptance. READ MORE
NAVIGATING VACCINE ACCESS IN THE US
Healthcare leaders need to balance patient navigation, an intuitive technology approach, and community-based messaging to execute COVID-19 vaccine access. Vaccine hesitancy has proven to be just one of the massive hurdles medicine has dealt with since December when the first approved COVID-19 vaccines came to market. By partnering with community organizations, streamlining access systems across different states and requirements, and creating usable systems that account for a digital divide, healthcare leaders overcome these hurdles.
"Relational and empathetic methods of persuasion and information sharing tend to be more effective with many of our populations who are hesitant. That's especially women and communities of color," says AdventHealth's Chief Diversity Officer Jessica Brazier. READ MORE
PERSONALIZING THE HEALTHCARE EXPERIENCE
While artificial intelligence in healthcare can gain actionable insights from genomic data, longstanding challenges could hamper efforts to achieve precision medicine. Combined with clinical, pharmaceutical, and lifestyle information, genomic data can help providers discover early signs of disease or determine an individual's risk of developing disease. Genomics can point to the underlying causes of clinical changes, leading to more personalized, effective treatments.
"We've found that artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches have been transformational for many types of data. The scale of the genome is huge, so tools like AI can help us identify patterns in the data that may not be obvious," says NIH's All of Us Research Program CEO Josh Denny, MD, MS. READ MORE
CROSSING THE RURAL DIVIDE
A new Health Affairs study found that roughly 10% of rural members enrolled in Medicare Advantage plans reported care access dissatisfaction compared to just 4.6% of nonrural beneficiaries. Researchers used Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data of 17,888 Medicare beneficiaries from 2010 to 2016 to analyze rural and nonrural beneficiary trends regarding member satisfaction and care access. The results revealed that coverage might be lacking for rural beneficiaries due to limited benefits and narrow provider networks. READ MORE
BRINGING DIVERSITY TO CLINICAL TRIALS
The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to light the longstanding racial and ethnic disparities in clinical trials. Oftentimes, clinical trials do not or cannot reach individuals from diverse backgrounds, leaving key research one-sided despite the impact age, genetics, gender, race, and geographic location can have on treatment effectiveness forspecificn individuals. Top pharmaceutical companies must likely create their own recommendations and put principles into action to increase diversity in the future. READ MORE
