Salt Lake City, August 24, 2017 – The implementation of the Comprehensive Joint Replacement (CJR) bundle, and the recently proposed changes to the program, have increased scrutiny on hospital readmissions and their causes. Today, Leavitt Partners released a new white paper, “Why Patients Readmit: Using a Readmission Curve to Identify Patients at Risk for Hospital … Read more
Salt Lake City, August 8, 2017 – Today, Leavitt Partners released “Price, Consumer Choice, and Health Care Marketplaces,” a new white paper addressing the need for more clarity about what dynamics are driving consumer choice in the health insurance marketplaces. Using data on plan premiums, brand, network size, and the exchange-eligible population for ten total … Read more
Dual eligibles, individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, are among the highest-need, highest cost patients in the United States. Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of dual eligibles, a 2012 Kaiser Family Foundation report estimates that dual eligibles comprise 21 percent of the Medicare population and 15 percent of the Medicaid population. However, … Read more
Salt Lake City, June 27, 2017 – Today, Leavitt Partners released a new white paper, entitled “Optimizing the Value of Skilled Nursing Facilities (SNFs) In Value-Based Care: Insights for Hospitals & Health Systems.” The white paper addresses how hospitals and health systems are increasingly relying on post-acute providers to provide high value, low cost care, … Read more
Salt Lake City, June 23, 2017 — Leavitt Partners is pleased to announce that the firm will present 10 research posters and provide three presentations, supported by eleven researchers, at the AcademyHealth Annual Research Meeting (ARM) in New Orleans, LA June 25-27, 2017. The ARM is the premier forum for health services research, with a … Read more
Introduction Dual-eligible enrollees account for a disproportionately sizeable proportion of spending in both Medicare and Medicaid programs. However, until recently, these nearly 11.5 million[i] enrollees have not been in the spotlight in discussions regarding the move toward value-based payments. One of the biggest challenges in moving dual eligibles to value-based payments is solving the logistical and … Read more
Micro-Hospitals Defined While the health care industry continues to shift from volume to value, costs of inpatient care continue to rise, averaging $2,346 per inpatient per day. Consequently, payers and providers are seeking new ways to reduce hospital length of stay (LOS) and deliver care at less costly locations. One such mechanism is the emerging trend … Read more
As telehealth gains traction as a way to deliver health care, Medicare reimbursement remains a major obstacle to broad implementation due in part to scoring methodology from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO). Rather than decreasing health care costs, CBO’s scoring methodology assumes that telehealth increases utilization and therefore overall costs. Recent legislation on the Hill, … Read more
On April 1, 2016, the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model program took effect, affecting roughly 800 hospitals across 67 markets. Prior to the program becoming active, Leavitt Partners published a blog post stating, “Time will tell whether hospitals and providers will succeed with quality improvements and savings generation under this new program.” One year into … Read more
Background The Quality Payment Program (QPP) under MACRA is now more than three months underway into the first payment year. However, there are still many nuances of the program, specifically under the multi-payer Advanced APM option, that payers —including commercial, Medicare Advantage, and Medicaid — and clinicians need to understand before they can begin collaborating, … Read more
