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HMA Insights: Your source for healthcare news, ideas and analysis.

HMA Insights puts the vast depth of HMA’s expertise at your fingertips, helping you stay informed about the latest healthcare trends and topics. Below, you can easily search based on your topic of interest to find useful information from our blogs, webinars, case studies, reports and more.

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Webinar

Webinar Replay: Expert Guidance and Support for Effective and Equitable COVID-19 Vaccination

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This webinar was held on September 18, 2020. 

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to sweep across the country and new “hotspots” emerge daily, multiple research labs are working at an extraordinary pace to develop a viable vaccine. However, prior to the release of a vaccine, or more likely multiple vaccines, the public health and health care delivery systems must be ready. We need protocols for vaccine storage and handling for different vaccine types, as well as measured plans for rapid and efficient vaccine distribution and administration. Myriad factors must be considered to ensure safe and effective transport, storage, management, distribution, and tracking of millions of vaccine doses. Many states, cities, counties, and local communities are struggling to keep up with current public health needs, including contact tracing, preparation for a seasonal flu campaign and ensuring that school-aged children do not fall behind on important immunizations.

In this webinar, HMA experts presented practical guidelines and tools to help public health professionals, health plans, community organizations, and others plan for effectively distributing and managing COVID-19 vaccine(s) in their jurisdictions. Presenters also touched on issues ranging from physical infrastructure needs for vaccine storage and distribution to meeting tracking requirements, and the importance of using an equity lens across all aspects of vaccine campaign planning.

Learning Objectives:

  • Gain a comprehensive understanding of what is needed to prepare for managing a COVID-19 vaccine from acquisition to distribution.
  • Explore tools designed to help identify the number of vaccinators needed and the costs to meet desired coverage levels.
  • Learn practical insights for planning and preparing for a mass vaccination event on a local level
  • Understand how to ensure an equity lens is used when determining priority populations for distribution
  • Identify the roles of various stakeholders participating in vaccine delivery

HMA Speakers

Michelle Parra, PhD, Principal, Los Angeles, and former director of the Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program for the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health

Greg Vachon, MD, MPH, Principal, Chicago, Board Certified in Internal Medicine with expertise in digital health solutions and information technology for integration and population health management

Margaret Kirkegaard, MD, MPH, Principal, Chicago, Board Certified in Family Medicine with expertise in practice transformation and population-based health care delivery for vulnerable and underserved groups.

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: Making the Most Out of Opioid Use Disorder Funding

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This webinar was held on September 17, 2020.

With access to billions of dollars in federal funding aimed at battling the opioid epidemic, state and local governments are working with health plans and providers to build the most efficient and effective programs to help individuals struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD). During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC touched on best practices for the design, implementation, and evaluation of OUD prevention and treatment programs that help maximize the return on investment on OUD program funds.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn about practices being employed across the country to design, implement, evaluate and continuously improve OUD prevention and treatment programs.
  • Learn how HMA can work with state and local government agencies, health plans and providers on OUD prevention and treatment programmatic initiatives.
  • Find out how IT solutions such as HealthEC’s can dramatically improve processes such as data aggregation, synthesis, transformation, validation and comparative analysis in support of program design, ongoing evaluation and continuous improvement efforts.

Speakers

Jim McEvoy, MA, Principal, HMA

Jenifer Leaf Jaeger, MD, MPH, MS, Health EC, Senior Medical Director

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: Maximizing the “Value” of Value-Based Payment Arrangements

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This webinar was held on September 15, 2020.

Provider-based organizations – particularly groups of providers such as accountable care organizations (ACOs), independent practice associations (IPAs), and clinically integrated networks – are in a unique position to create value for patients. Moreover, payers are increasingly being called upon to enter into value-based payment arrangements with providers. During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC discussed ways in which providers can maximize the “value” of their value-based payment arrangements through careful contract design, robust performance measurement systems, and an orientation toward population health management.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn about strategies provider-based organizations should employ to design, negotiate and administer value-based payment contracts.
  • Learn how HMA can work with provider-based organizations to succeed in a value-based payment environment.
  • Find out how IT solutions such as HealthEC’s can dramatically improve processes such as data aggregation, synthesis, transformation, validation and comparative analysis in support of value-based payment contract negotiation, administration and continuous optimization.

Speakers

Greg Vachon, MD, MPH, Principal, HMA
Sanjay Seth, MD, MPH, MS, HealthEC, Executive Vice President

 

Resources referenced in this webinar can be found here. 

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: How Health Plans Can Meet Competing Performance Demands of Stakeholders

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This webinar was held on September 10, 2020.

Health plans face complex and competing demands from a wide variety of stakeholders for measurable improvements in performance. That’s especially challenging for small and mid-sized health plans that don’t have the resources of larger entities. During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC outlined ways in which health plans can use data and robust analysis to prioritize performance management efforts, improve key business functions, and meet the varied needs of state and federal regulatory agencies, enrollees, providers, advocacy groups, and other constituencies.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn about how health plans should approach improvements in business functions and overall performance to address the needs of various stakeholders.
  • Learn how HMA can work with health plans on process and performance improvement initiatives.
  • Find out how IT solutions such as HealthEC’s can dramatically improve health plan processes such as data aggregation, synthesis, transformation, validation and comparative analysis in support of process and performance improvement initiatives.

Speakers

Glenda Stepchinski, RN, BSN, Senior Consultant, HMA
Frank Persinger, Vice President, Strategic Development, HealthEC

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: How States Are Rethinking Medicaid Managed Care Performance Management

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This webinar was held on September 8, 2020.

State Medicaid agencies (SMAs) are actively exploring improved approaches to managing the performance of Medicaid managed care organizations (MCOs) and accountable care organizations (ACOs), emphasizing tailored quality measures, new incentive models, more effective use of information technology, and revised contract requirements.

During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC outlined potential improvements to MCO/ACO performance management and showcased ways in which information technology can be deployed to enable these improvements.

Learning Objectives:    

  • Learn about ways in which the number and mix of measures, the design of business processes and use of information systems should change to achieve improvements in MCO/ACO performance management.
  • Learn how HMA can work with SMAs on performance management initiatives.
  • Find out how IT solutions such as HealthEC’s can dramatically improve SMA processes such as data aggregation, synthesis, transformation, validation, and comparative analysis in support of performance management system improvements.

Speakers

Steve Soto, Principal, HMA
Sita Kapoor, HealthEC, Chief Information Officer

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: Optimizing Your Communicable Disease Outbreak Management

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This webinar was held on September 3, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the challenges faced by state and local data management and analytics infrastructures in preventing and responding to infectious disease outbreaks. During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC provided a framework for how states and local jurisdictions can leverage data to prevent major disease outbreaks and implement targeted strategies to address outbreaks when they occur.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand how data and analytics infrastructures can be used to help prevent infectious disease outbreaks.
  • Learn about surveillance capabilities, including “early warning” capabilities, made possible by more robust contact tracing functionality and Internet-enabled devices, such as thermometers and remote monitoring systems.
  • Explore response management capabilities, such as robust real-time adaptive modeling that can drive resource allocation and deployment.
  • Understand risk stratification and predictive modeling which supports smart pre-deployment of outreach to vulnerable populations.

Speakers

Liddy Garcia-Bunuel, Principal, HMA
Jennifer Leaf Jaeger, MD, MPH, MS, HealthEC, Senior Medical Director

Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: Achieving Health Equity for Disadvantaged Populations

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This webinar was held on September 1, 2020.

Across the nation, an unprecedented focus is being placed on achieving the goal of health equity. This goal requires acquiring, aggregating, and analyzing data on social determinants of health to help identify and address the root causes of health disparities. During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC provided a roadmap for how states, health plans, and providers can leverage data to support the design, development, and implementation of successful health equity initiatives.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand why achieving health equity is an increasingly important goal for state Medicaid agencies, health plans and providers.
  • Learn how racial inequality and social determinants of health contribute to inequities in health care access, outcomes, and status.
  • Assess the readiness of states, health plans, and providers to address concerns over the impact of health equity on the morbidity and mortality or disadvantaged populations.
  • Understand the role of analytics and population health management in identifying the causes of health disparities and building successful health equity initiatives.

Speakers

Desmond Banks, MPH, PhD, Senior Consultant, HMA, Washington DC
Jennifer Leaf Jaeger, MD, MPH, MS, Health EC, Senior Medical Director

Webinar

Webinar Replay: National and State Strategies for Long-Term Care at Home

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This webinar was held on August 31, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created greater impetus for the growth of home-based care alternatives to hospital and institutional care. In this webinar, HMA experts provided a national overview of the trend toward home-based care and highlighted innovations in state policies, payer programs, clinical models, and payment models. Speakers also took an in-depth look at California’s new LTC at Home benefit.

Learning Objectives:

  • Understand how the pandemic is spurring new interest and growth in home-based alternatives to institutional care.
  • Identify trends among home health and home care providers in the era of COVID-19.
  • Learn about promising state and payer initiatives for promoting home-based long-term care (LTC)
  • Explore the details and ramifications of California’s new LTC at Home benefit.

HMA Speakers

Karen Brodsky, MHS, Principal, New York
Jody Gastfriend, LCSW, Principal, Boston
Barry Jacobs, Psy.D., Principal, Philadelphia
Jason Silva, JD, Senior Consultant, Sacramento

Materials Referenced in this Webinar

Continuum of Care Table
​​​​​​​​​​​DHCS Long-Term Care at Home​

Webinar

Webinar Replay: Exploring Medicare Advantage Plans as a New Business Strategy

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This webinar was held on August 6, 2020.

The COVID-19 pandemic shined a spotlight on funding pressures on providers and systems that rely largely on fee-for-service payment. This, along with additional stressors brought on by the pandemic, has led many health systems and providers to consider revenue diversification and service expansion strategies. During this webinar, HMA Medicare Advantage experts addressed the option of using Medicare Advantage as a strategy to better manage care of patients and provide a steady stream of predictable revenues.

Learning Objectives:

  • Evaluate the benefits and risks of exploring a Medicare Advantage business strategy.
  • Understand the evolving national Medicare Advantage policy landscapes and competitive marketplace.
  • Assess various Medicaid Advantage plan options and strategic business considerations.
  • Find out about the unique market opportunities of Medicare Advantage Special Needs Plans.
  • Learn what needs to be done for a successful Medicare Advantage launch or expansion in 2022.

HMA Speakers

Jon Blum, Managing Principal, Washington, DC
Mary Hsieh, Managing Principal, Atlanta, GA

Webinar

Webinar Replay: Leveraging the Primary Care Team’s Strengths During Reopening: Part 3 – Payment and Documentation

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This webinar was held on July 29, 2020.

In this webinar, HMA primary care experts discussed current payment flexibilities that allow physician practices to maintain revenues while operating in a virtual environment. Given the likelihood that many patients will continue to receive care virtually even after the pandemic, HMA experts explored mechanisms for alternative payment models that support virtual care and allow for efficient use of the care team. Speakers also shared necessary considerations for documentation to assure data capture and appropriate billing.

Learning Objectives

  1. Discuss current relaxation of regulations related to the National Emergency Declaration and CMS flexibility.
  2. Understand the use of alternative payment models to enhance revenue opportunities for practices providing virtual care.
  3. Understand the need for new templates and order sets to support virtual care.
  4. Discuss EHR optimization to improve care processes and capture data.

Speakers

Helen Duplessis, MD, Principal, Los Angeles, CA
Lisa Harrison, MS, MHS, PA-C, Senior Consultant, Denver, CO
Roxane Townsend, MD, Managing Principal, Raleigh, NC

Webinar

Webinar Replay: Nursing Home Revenue Diversification and Care Options Series: Understanding the Impact of Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Quality Ratings

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This webinar was held on July 24, 2020. 

Even before COVID-19, nursing homes struggled with staffing shortages, inadequate reimbursement rates, and declining occupancy rates. The pandemic has amplified these challenges, forcing nursing homes to consider options for diversifying revenues and broadening services for both residents and individuals who qualify for institutional status but reside in the community. During this webinar (the second in a series), HMA quality experts will provide an overview of the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Quality Rating System and its impact on nursing homes.

Learning Objectives

  • Understand the components of the Nursing Home Compare Five-Star Quality Rating System.
  • Find out how Nursing Home Compare ratings impact a nursing home’s business.
  • Learn the strengths and limitations of Nursing Home Compare as a true measure of nursing home quality.

HMA Speakers
Doug Elwell, COO, Chicago, IL
Susan Tucker, Principal, Tallahassee, FL

Webinar

Webinar Replay: Leveraging the Primary Care Team’s Strengths During Reopening: Part 2 – Adapting the Environment

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This webinar was held on July 22, 2020.

Before reopening for in-person visits, primary care practices must address a wide variety of safety considerations, including infection control protocols; modifications to offices, waiting areas, and exam rooms; staffing and workflow issues; and other strategies that minimize the risk of exposure to COVID-19 for both patients and staff. During this 30-minute webinar, HMA primary care experts discussed best practices for successfully reopening primary care practices during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Learning Objectives

  1. Understand key clinical, physical office, and financial considerations for reopening primary care practices to in-person patient care.
  2. Learn about the availability of decision-support tools and resources to assist primary care practices with reopening.
  3. Find out about infection control protocols and other best practices to ensure the safety of patients and staff during reopening.
  4. Learn how the “new normal” of operating during the COVID-19 pandemic variously impacts clinicians, administrative staff, and leadership, including a look at new protocols and workflows.

Speakers

Karen Hill, PhD, ANP-C, MSN, RN, Senior Consultant, San Francisco, CA
Brittany LaBarreare, Senior Consultant, Austin, TX
Gail Mayeaux, Principal, Albany, NY
Deb Peartree, Senior Consultant, Albany, NY