Insights

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

HMA Insights – including our new podcast – 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 podcast, blogs, webinars, case studies, reports and more.

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Webinar

Webinar Replay – Health Performance Accelerator Webinar Series: Strategies to Integrate Health and Human Services Systems

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This webinar was held on September 22, 2020. 

State and local governments face a common set of challenges to implementing well-coordinated, fully-integrated health and human services (HHS) programs. From multiple information systems that cannot exchange data to overlapping funding streams and workflows, fragmented and siloed HHS systems create inefficiencies which jeopardize the health and wellbeing of the populations which they seek to serve. During this webinar, experts from HMA and HealthEC shared recommendations that states and localities can adopt to achieve greater coordination of HHS programs.

Learning Objectives:

  • Learn about practices being employed across the country to improve coordination of health and human services, including the critical role of improved information management and systems in enabling service coordination.
  • Learn how HMA can support state and local government agencies on HHS coordination/ integration initiatives.
  • Find out how IT solutions such as HealthEC’s can dramatically improve processes such as data aggregation, synthesis, transformation and validation that enable HHS agencies to have greater visibility into the needs of individual residents and tailor interventions that more effectively address those needs.

Speakers

Laura Zaremba, MA, Principal, HMA
Sita Kapoor, HealthEC, Chief Information Officer

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

Blog

CMS finalizes policy using hospital negotiated charge data for payment rates

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This week, our In Focus section reviews the policy changes included in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Final Rule (CMS-1735-F). This year’s IPPS Final Rule includes several important policy changes that will change hospitals’ administrative procedures and may alter hospitals’ Medicare margins, beginning as soon as October 1, 2020.

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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

Blog

California releases Medi-Cal managed care RFI

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This week, our In Focus section reviews the California request for information (RFI) regarding the Medi-Cal Managed Care Plan (MCP) contract and the upcoming Medi-Cal MCP procurement. The California Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) is seeking information to update boilerplate contracts and develop the request for proposals (RFP) scheduled for release in 2021.

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