RCM Automation Underutilized; Lyft Helps More Patients Access Care

Providers Missing Out on RCM Automation

April 15, 2021 - According to a new survey, about one-third of hospitals and health systems do not use revenue cycle automation. The survey commissioned by AKASA was conducted through the Healthcare Financial Management Association's Pulse Survey program and received responses from 587 chief financial officers and revenue cycle leaders at hospitals and health systems across the US. About 30.4 percent of the survey respondents have never used automation in revenue cycle operations, while 2.8 percent no longer use automation. READ MORE

Lyft Adds Non-Emergency Medical Transportation

Rideshare company Lyft has developed a patient-facing non-emergency medical transportation system, Lyft Pass for Healthcare, that would let patients schedule and obtain their rides to appointments, the company announced in a statement emailed to journalists. Typically, patients using a covered form of NEMT need to have their providers schedule that ride, something that can be burdensome and ultimately get in the way of healthcare access, the company said. Lyft Pass for Healthcare would allow patients to receive a covered NEMT Lyft ride that they have schedule themselves.

"We're inserting a world class technology many are already familiar with into patients' care journey," said Megan Callahan, VP of Lyft Healthcare. READ MORE

Putting Precision Medicine to Work for Mental Health

Understanding how to best treat mental illnesses and predict a patient's risk of developing these conditions would improve outcomes for the millions of people living with a mental disorder.

At the Atlanta VA Medical Center and Emory University, researchers aim to realize the potential of precision medicine for depression treatment. Using a proteome-wide association study (PWAS) that integrated genome-wide association study (GWAS) data with human brain proteomic and genetic data, the team identified 19 genes that may lead to depression by altering brain protein levels. Researchers also pinpointed 25 such proteins that offer promise as potential targets for new depression treatments. READ MORE

Effectively Fighting Active COVID-19 Cases

Roche recently confirmed positive results from the Phase 3 trial assessing its COVID-19 antibody cocktail, aiming to reduce coronavirus infection among household contacts of individuals infected with the virus.  Researchers found that administration of the antibody cocktail, casirivimab and imdevimab, reduced the risk of symptomatic infection by 81 percent in individuals who were not infected when they entered the trial. The REGN-COV 2069 trial assessed casirivimab and imdevimab in individuals without COVID-19 antibodies or coronavirus symptoms and lived in the same household as individuals who tested positive for the virus within the previous four days. READ MORE

Satisfied Customers Through Telehealth

Almost 80 percent of people who used telehealth during COVID-19 reported patient satisfaction, and over 70 percent expect to access virtual care post-pandemic, according to a new survey from the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition. The 20-question survey from the American Medical Association, American Telemedicine Association, Change Healthcare, and other healthcare stakeholders collected virtual care perceptions of more than 2,000 patients across the country. Notably, over 80 percent of respondents (83 percent) reported good overall visit quality, and 78 percent said they felt their health concern could be addressed via telehealth. These findings were consistent across age, insurance type, and urban/rural status. READ MORE

Promoting Health Equity with Social Risk Adjustment

Adjusting quality measures for social risk factors can promote health equity, according to expert guidance published in Health Affairs. The experts explained that while health outcome measures reflect the quality of care, they are also contingent upon factors such as personal behavior and community resources. Therefore, they argue, health outcome measures should be adjusted for these non-quality-related factors when appropriate. For instance, providers serving socially vulnerable patients might yield lower-quality care scores than other providers who serve more socially advantaged patients due to a lack of resources. READ MORE