Bellinda Conte, MS, eMBA

Don't be fooled. Value-based care won't come to you! You need to go to value-based care! How? By weaving together the principles of data, population health management, operations, finance, and change management. Yes, it's challenging, but it's worth it. If you're at the annual #FACHC conference in late July, Carrie T. and I will show you the how, and hear from Syntax Health and Austin Helton about the #VBC #contracting, #data and the impressive results we've achieved. #VBC #ValueBasedCare #valuebasedhealthcare #data #PopulationHealthManagement #pophealth #healthcarefianance #change #changemanagement

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This story in "D Magazine: Healthcare" is basically neutral on the fact that three of the top five most-profitable health systems are in the Dallas area. But the real headline should be that health systems continue to rake in the money, much of that for egregious collection practices and inflated charges, among other things. Self-insured employers and their patients continue to "feed the beasts" by allowing routine, scheduled, planned, and elective procedures to be done in these settings. Instead, these kinds of procedures can generally be done at independent surgical facilities with independent physician practices. The costs are significantly lower, and oh, by the way, the the quality is usually considerably higher. #SurgicalBundles #SurgeryBundles #FreeStandingASCs #IndependentPhysicians #PriceTransparency #DontFeedTheBeast

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Here’s your recap of last week’s health IT news 🗞️ 👇 🖊️ AI Ambient Scribes • CHRISTUS Health + Abridge: The 15,000 provider Texas health system adopted the ambient scribe enterprise-wide.    • Tampa General Hospital + Nuance Communications DAX Copilot: Over 500 providers at the health system will begin utilizing the AI ambient scribe.    • Texas Oncology + DeepScribe: The statewide oncology practice adopted the AI ambient medical scribe. (ed. note: scribes continue to be hot!) ☎️ AI Contact Center • Clearstep: The AI conversational chat vendor launched a new feature allowing patients to self-schedule specialist visits. 📊 Data & Analytics • InterSystems + CLEAR: The cloud-based patient data service is integrating the identity technology to expedite access to patient records.    • WakeMed + Bamboo Health: The health system is adopting the data interoperability and encounter notification service. 🥼 Clinical Decision Support • University Hospitals + Aidoc: The Cleveland-based health system is implementing the AI clinical decision support platform across 13 of its hospitals and additional outpatient locations. 🧑‍💻 Virtual and At-Home Care • University of South Carolina School of Medicine + Rimidi: The hospital group and an affiliated multispecialty clinic are adopting the remote patient monitoring platform to reduce complications from postpartum hypertension.    • Mount Sinai Health System + HealthSnap: The medical center announced a new remote patient monitoring and chronic care management program in partnership with the virtual care management platform.    • Wheel: The telehealth company released a new AI-driven virtual care platform designed to enhance the patient experience and offer resources to help partners scale their virtual care services. 💬 Patient Engagement • CipherHealth: The patient engagement solution focused on patient rounding released a new AI summary tool.    • DexCare: The care orchestration platform completed a $75M series C funding round 🩼 Durable Medical Equipment • Better Health: The medical device and peer support network completed a $14M funding round. 🧠 Food for Thought: • Silicon Valley Bank released an interesting report on the state of investment in AI in healthcare, including stats on AI usage at healthcare organizations and the impact of leveraging AI on startup valuation. https://lnkd.in/em7AfivT    • The journal Critical Care Medicine published an editorial on an “in clinico” evaluation of a machine learning-based early warning system to predict in-hospital deterioration. We found it to be an interesting look at the actual impact of a model’s deployment on care processes and patient outcomes in a critical care setting. https://lnkd.in/eQhZbVKu

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Keep our rurals open but if you really want to help get the foreign equity owned GPO that sets the pricing for our hospitals BANNED from our state. Economies of scale are used by Vizient against Oklahoma rural hospitals. If you have 13 tiers, hidden tiers, and tier maxes…that’s not a contract, that a free for all nightmare of a scam we all fell for. Their awful written tiered agreements force our rurals to pay more for the exact same items that our large hospitals pay less for. Example box of gloves a large hospital system in the state will pay 6-8 bucks for a box of 250 exam gloves. That same box for a rural EMT? 24 bucks. There is no price transparency and you are forcing patients who live in rural areas to pay more because of the lack of infrastructure by the corporations serving them to effectively and economically get goods and services to these hospitals. And distributors who whine about the cost of delivering to rural hospitals all while posting BILLIONS in profit every quarter are the first on my 💩 list. Let’s keep our rurals open but let’s make them more profitable so that they can continue to add much needed services and gainfully employ more community members.

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Great offering for executive leaders..!

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An Outpatient Clinical Documentation Improvement (CDI) program offers substantial advantages to healthcare organizations by elevating patient care and operational efficiency. By integrating risk stratification with chronic conditions, enhancing quality measures, addressing social determinants of health, and establishing a collaborative team empowered by technology, such strategic initiatives result in improved patient outcomes and streamlined operations.

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Mark your calendars! The 2024 Association of Healthcare Value Analysis Professionals (AHVAP) Value Analysis Week is just around the corner. Join us from July 15-19 as we gather healthcare professionals from around the world to explore the latest advancements and strategies in value analysis. Don't miss out! To learn more: https://lnkd.in/eJZSWUVa. #AHVAP2024ValueAnalysisWeek #HealthcareValueAnalysis #HealthcareEvent

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Esperanza Health Centers has entered into an agreement with Visualutions, Inc. to enhance their Revenue Cycle Optimization for athenaOne. This collaboration comes after years of experience for both organizations in serving the FQHC markets and share a passion for improving access to quality healthcare services for patients of all means. By joining forces, they aim to address the challenges associated with revenue cycle management at Esperanza Health Centers. “Visualutions came to us highly recommended by partners that we trust. They have demonstrated an impressive understanding of our health center’s needs and a profound commitment to community health, and we are very excited to see how our partnership unfolds.” Ryan Gadia, CFO, Esperanza Health Centers. "Visualutions is dedicated to delivering value-added services aimed at assisting customers, such as Esperanza Health Centers in directing their valuable resources towards patient care. We eagerly anticipate supporting them in fulfilling their mission to serve their community." said Joe Craigen, CEO, Visualutions, Inc. About Esperanza Health Centers --------------------------------------------- Esperanza Health Centers is a Federally Qualified Health Center that operates four primary care clinics on Chicago’s Southwest Side. Through the provision of a full range of bilingual, culturally appropriate primary and specialty care, behavioral health, and wellness services, we’re committed to improving health equity and reducing barriers to care for the residents of the medically underserved, primarily Latino communities we serve. Since 2004, we’ve delivered care to over 25,000 patients each year regardless of immigration status, insurance status, or ability to pay. Esperanza Health Centers provide services for Adult Medicine, Pediatrics, Women's Health, Behavioral Health, Psychiatry, Medication Assisted Treatment, Family Medicine, PrEP, Immigration Physicals, Benefits Counseling, Fitness, and Maternal Health About Visualutions, Inc. ------------------------------- For more than two decades, Visualutions has provided vital services to community health centers across the country that are passionate about providing the very best healthcare and services to their patients. As national leaders in providing community health revenue cycle optimization, productivity workflows, business intelligence and technology services, Visualutions provides the support organizations need to deliver on your patient-focused mission. #esperanzahealthcenter #rcm #fqhcrcm fqhcpartner #pressrelease #athena #athenaOne

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Key Strategic Insights = A Successful OP CDI Program The challenge of value-based care starts with a collaborative approach, when launching an Outpatient Clinical Documentation Integrity (OP CDI) program. Here are some key strategic insights to success: 1. Engage with Population Health Understand Pain Points: Begin by understanding the specific challenges faced. This fosters collaboration. Tailored Questions: Use customized questions to facilitate productive discussions and ensure alignment with needs. 2. Effective Software Implementation Manage Patient (Pt.) Volumes: Implement software solutions to efficiently handle pt. volumes. OP CDI Calculator: Utilize a calculator to determine Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) needs. Data Analytics and Reporting: Emphasize the importance of continuous improvement via data analytics. 3. Workflow Creation Establish Robust Workflows: Create strong workflows before integrating reviewers. 4. Collaboration & Communication Promote Strong Collaboration: Encourage robust communication between key stakeholders. Leverage Software: Use technology to reduce physician burnout & streamline communication. 5. Patient-Centered Approach Address social determinants of health (SDOH) & ensure accurate documentation of conditions and care plans. Patient Outcomes: Keep patient care at the center of all doc. & workflow processes. 6. Regulatory Compliance Adhere to Guidelines: Follow regulatory requirements such as CMS guidelines on Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCC) coding to avoid penalties and enhance credibility. 7. Measurable Outcomes Set Clear Goals: Aim for measurable outcomes like improved HCC recapture rates, enhanced RAF scores, better HEDIS measures, and addressing SDOH needs. 8. Stakeholder Engagement Involve All Stakeholders: Ensure that executives, clinicians, and other relevant parties are involved in planning and implementation process. Success Stories Recently, I helped several CDI directors validate their cases for OP CDI programs within Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). By engaging with population health leadership, we identified key issues such as RAF gaps and HEDIS measures, and tailored processes to address them. For instance, a CDI director I guided successfully identified HCC and HEDIS recapture as their biggest pain points. With strategic solutions in place, they are now ready to implement the project for the 2025 budget yr., aiming to improve their HCC recapture rate by 20%, leveraging data analytics for outcomes and improvement needs. Benefits of Implementing These Strategies Align Risk Stratification: Properly align risk stratification with chronic conditions and healthcare needs. Quality Measures: Improve quality measures and address SDOH. Collaborative Team: Ensure success with a collaborative team supported by technology. Overall, these strategic actions will enhance patient care and operational efficiency. #Healthcare #Leadership #CDI #PatientCare #ValueBasedCare #HealthcareInnovation

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Interested in learning more about key news, trends, and themes driving innovation in healthcare in 2024 and beyond? Download our latest report and read what the these thought leaders are saying!

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently announced the first states to participate in their new #PopulationHealth-focused payment model. The States Advancing All-Payer Health Equity Approaches and Development (AHEAD) Model is a voluntary, state total cost of care (TCOC) model designed to address population health in specific regions, reduce health disparities and lower #healthcare costs. States participating in this model will be responsible for the quality, coordination and cost of healthcare while receiving funding and additional tools to address current payment and equity challenges in their state. 💡 My thoughts: It's exciting to see how we continue evolving our thinking around value and innovation, looking across payers, states and state agencies to push some of these practices forward. Not only that, but the timeline of these models has also been extended from 3 years to 10 years – allowing us a longer period to gather more comprehensive learnings and understand if these interventions are having a true impact. Efforts like these help us more accurately assess if the current work we’re doing is making a difference. I look forward to following the development of this model and seeing how it plays out with the first cohort (Maryland and Vermont) in 2026! 

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Great defense of “private equity medicine” from former CMS administrator Leslie Norwalk. Though few clinicians fully understand it, PEM has become a popular bogeyman for a wide range of complaints about US health care. A few key takeaways: ·      All health care organizations require working capital. They should be judged on their behavior, rather than their source of capital. ·      Pushing health care organizations to more expensive sources of capital (e.g,, high interest loans) doesn’t serve anyone’s interests (except the banks). ·      The financial successes of private equity-backed companies accrue to everyone with a 401K or a mutual fund, not just a small number of wall street elites. ·      Reducing competition in health care (based on investment class) only accelerates market consolidation by integrated health systems, and the higher prices that come with it.

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🌟 Upcoming Live Webinar: Enhancing Dialysis Facility Preparedness 🌟 🗓️ Date: June 25 ⏰ Time: 2 PM ET Join me, Kristi Wells, RN from Greenfield Health System, for an essential webinar explicitly designed for nurse leaders in the dialysis industry. Here's why you should attend: 🔍 Insightful Learnings: Gain firsthand insights into state surveyors' crucial findings and perspectives. Understand what they look for during evaluations and how this impacts facility operations. 📈 Improve Facility Readiness: Learn about the latest trends and focus areas identified by surveyors. This knowledge will help enhance your facility's preparedness and compliance, ensuring you meet and exceed regulatory standards. 💡 Actionable Strategies: I'll share key strategies and best practices to prepare your facility for upcoming surveys, helping you avoid common pitfalls and enhance patient care. 🎓 Earn CE Credits: Earn 1.00 Continuing Education credit by attending this webinar and completing the required post-test and evaluation. This webinar is not just a learning opportunity—it's a chance to improve your facility's operations and patient outcomes directly. Stay ahead of the curve by understanding the latest surveyor expectations and industry standards! Register Here: https://lnkd.in/eBpmNXbw ✨ Don't miss out on this chance to elevate your professional practice and facility standards! ✨ #DialysisCare #NurseLeaders #HealthcareWebinar #DialysisPreparedness #StateSurveyors #ContinuingEducation #NursingEducation #DialysisNursing #HealthSystem #PatientCareExcellence

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The definition of a crisis: Kansas 26% of rural hospitals — 26 — are at immediate risk of closure in the next 2-3 years 56% of rural hospitals — 57 — are at risk of closure in the next 6-7 years Add to that: 2/3 of Kansas counties do not have a single primary care physician.

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As healthcare shifts to more value based payment models, providers of care in the home have plenty of opportunity to seize, but that's not without some tectonic shifts in our care and business models. Excited for this discussion on what it will take to prepare!

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We are just over 5 weeks into our first wave of Epic and our revamped patient experience has shown amazing results. Day one activations of MyChart were among the highest Epic has seen. In just over 30 days, we’ve seen over 100,000 activations, with our My Memorial Hermann app surpassing 50,000 downloads and high ratings on both app stores. More importantly, we’re seeing strong engagement with our digital experiences. Over 60% of patients are completing pre-visit paperwork digitally, and a similar percentage are using our e-CheckIn for co-pays. We’re also tracking “touchless arrivals,” where patients handle everything digitally, allowing clinic staff to call them directly to a room. Already, close to 10% of encounters are occurring without front desk engagement, creating a more efficient experience. Great to see these early results! Thanks to our Digital and Epic implementation teams for making this happen! #EpicGoLive #HealthcareIT #DigitalHealth #PatientExperience #HealthTech #Teamwork #HealthcareInnovation #OperationalExcellence #Leadership

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There are a multitude of different opportunities for Community Health Centers to leverage technology to stay relevant for the future. In this article I cover four different future-oriented care model approaches and explore how to leverage technology to achieve the clinical goals associated with each approach. https://buff.ly/4ctSMhf #TelehealthTuesday #telehealth

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