- LEADERSHIP Spotlight:
New Frontiers Examines Rise of Ambulatory Care Trends - Planning for Success: Strategies for Effective Integration
- Renew Your ACHE Member Benefits in 2021
- CMS Expands Medicare Telehealth Services, Increases Physician Pay
- The Positive Impact of Supply Chain Ingenuity and Perseverance
- Call for Proposals: Management Innovations Exchange
Leadership Spotlight: New Frontiers Examines Rise of Ambulatory Care Trends
Many healthcare organizations are rethinking their ambulatory strategies in the wake of the pandemic. “The reimagination of ambulatory care is central to the future of sustainable healthcare delivery,” writes Robert W. Allen, FACHE, senior vice president/COO, Intermountain Healthcare, in a feature article in the winter 2020 issue of Frontiers of Health Services Management. Allen discusses the recent transformation of the health system into one that makes ambulatory care more focused on consumers and achieving better population health. Another feature, written by Jan L. Bergen, president/CEO, Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health, and Susan Wynne, principal, The Wellynn Group, explores several imperatives for healthcare organizations to consider when identifying a long-term ambulatory strategy that is both successful and sustainable, drawing on the experience of Penn Medicine Lancaster General Health’s evolution toward ambulatory care.
This issue of Frontiers is available online to all ACHE members at ache.org/Journals.
Planning for Success: Strategies for Effective Integration
Hospital merger and acquisition activity in 2020 continues despite the significant impact the COVID-19 pandemic has had on healthcare providers. In fact, 2020 M&A activity in the healthcare sector is trending with 2019 activity.
Hospital M&As appeal to healthcare organizations striving to achieve the Triple Aim of increasing access, reducing cost and improving care delivery. Perhaps another trending driver is sustainability and viability for hospitals that are struggling to keep their doors open as they encounter financial pressures resulting from the pandemic. M&A is designed to help address these scenarios by providing opportunities for strategic, operational and financial benefits for organizations on both sides of the deal. However, while the predeal diligence may justify the transaction, the real value of the transaction is often realized in the integration.
Although transactions do not always succeed for many reasons, flawed integration management is often at the top of the list. This is understandable given that M&A integration is arguably the most complex, intense and unpredictable event an organization can go through. Integration can impact all aspects of an organization, including human capital, business and clinical processes, and technology.
A recent research report by Berkeley Research Group and Juniper Advisory, Hospital Mergers and Acquisitions—Studying Successful Outcomes, provides insights from over 120 healthcare executives on how to successfully integrate two or more hospitals and achieve the original value drivers of the transaction.
BRG, an ACHE Premier Corporate Partner, provided the content above.
Renew Your ACHE Member Benefits in 2021
Thank you for your ongoing support of the American College of Healthcare Executives, especially during this difficult year. You are among more than 48,000 healthcare leaders who make a difference in the field by advancing healthcare leadership excellence and keeping our communities safe and healthy. We look forward to continuing to deliver your member benefits in 2021. Renew your ACHE membership today and continue to gain access to exclusive member benefits while staying connected with your healthcare leader peers across the country.
We hope you will join us again so we can help you lead effectively, no matter the challenges you are facing. Online auto-renewal is a quick and easy way to ensure continued access to programs, products and services that will support your care for the patients and communities you serve.
Log in at ache.org/Dues using your username and password. If you have forgotten your password, use the Forgot Your Password? feature to create a new one. (Make sure ACHE emails are not filtering to your spam folder.) While you are online, you also can print a dues statement or receipt for reimbursement.
For questions about your dues, contact our Customer Service Center at contact@ache.org or (312) 424-9400.
CMS Expands Medicare Telehealth Services, Increases Physician Pay
In its Dec. 1 release of the annual Physician Fee Schedule final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services finalized expansion of telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries and increased payments to physicians and other practitioners for the additional time they spend with patients.
Building off an executive order by President Trump that provides Medicare coverage for telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic, the final rule adds more than 60 services to the Medicare telehealth list that will continue to be covered beyond the end of the health crisis. These additions allow beneficiaries in rural areas who are in a medical facility, such as a nursing home, to continue to have access to telehealth services.
The final rule also increases the value of many services similar to office and outpatient face-to-face evaluation and management visits, for which payment rates will increase beginning in 2021. These services include maternity care bundles, ED visits, end-stage renal disease capitated payment bundles, and physical and occupational therapy evaluation services. These adjustments ensure CMS is appropriately recognizing the kind of care where clinicians need to spend more face-to-face time with patients.
In addition, the final rule makes permanent several workforce flexibilities provided during the pandemic that allow nonphysician practitioners, such as nurse practitioners and physician assistants, to practice at the top of their license without imposing additional restrictions by the Medicare program.
For more information about the final rule, please consult the following resources:
- 2021 Physician Fee Schedule final rule fact sheet.
- 2021 Quality Payment Program final rule fact sheet and FAQs.
- Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program fact sheet.
The Positive Impact of Supply Chain Ingenuity and Perseverance
One major takeaway of the COVID-19 pandemic is that healthcare leaders must reimagine and prioritize supply chain plans to avoid shortages and protect clinicians and patients alike. This Friday, join Envision Healthcare for a webinar that will explore best practices for identifying and procuring PPE. Attendees will gain lessons about PPE procurement and distribution that can be applied to multiple areas of supply chain, and will learn how to communicate clinical best practices effectively when time is of the essence.
This webinar, which qualifies for 1 ACHE Qualified Education credit, is made possible in part by the support of Envision Physician Services (part of Envision Healthcare), an ACHE Premier Corporate Partner. Register today.
Call for Proposals: Management Innovations Exchange
ACHE invites authors to submit short PowerPoint presentations of their innovations for consideration for the Management Innovations Exchange to be held during ACHE’s virtual 2021 Congress on Healthcare Leadership. This is a unique opportunity for authors to share the innovative work their organizations are doing with other healthcare leaders. We are interested in innovations addressing issues affecting your organization that might be helpful to others, including improving quality or efficiency, improving patient or physician satisfaction, implementation of EHRs, uses of new technology, and similar topics. Please go to ache.org/MIExchange for the full selection criteria and submission instructions. Presentations should be submitted as an e-mail attachment to MIExchange@ache.org by Jan. 25.