Government & Policy
Along with IT, the agency has seen an uptick in interest about policy and healthcare legislation, an official said, offering a glimpse of what to expect at the conference.
Healthcare delivery that stresses value over volume requires a transformed business model, says Marjie Harbrecht, CEO of HealthTeamWorks in Lakewood, Colo. In order to be sustainable, she adds, the business model must adequately incorporate provider compensation, and spur all providers on the care-delivery team to deliver higher value care.
The Medical Group Management Association is holding its annual conference a bit early this year -- from Oct. 6 to 9 -- in the ocean-side city of San Diego. Here is our top 10 list (in no particular order) of how you can make your conference experience a memorable one.
This year's Medical Group Management Association annual conference is all about getting down to the nitty-gritty, said Robert Tennant, MGMA's senior policy advisor.
Even amid the government shutdown, the new online insurance marketplaces -- known as health insurance exchanges -- were up and running today. There were early reports of computer glitches across several states. Some states, with large numbers of uninsured are dealing with problems of a different sort.
During the government shutdown, only four of the total 184 on-board staffers at ONC would be retained and charged with handling "orderly phase-down and suspension of operations."
In states with large uninsured populations, marketplace enrollment (or lack of it) could impact doctors, hospitals and insurers for years to come.
Stage 2 of meaningful use will ramp up requirements and the use of patient portals, so a new crop of Web 2.0-savvy solutions are arriving amid estimates of skyrocketing market growth.
As two top leaders prepare to leave health IT's highest government posts, another ONC official -- a family physician, who also spent some time working at an EHR company -- prepares to take the reins.
Both the ONC's national coordinator and principal deputy national coordinator are leaving the agency in October, closing one era and opening another under a new acting ONC chief.