A March 2023 editorial in the New England Journal of Medicine spoke to the crossroads that the quality measurement movement faces.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its 2024 Proposed Physician Fee Schedule. Each year, CMS requests feedback on proposed changes to its fee policy, aiming to make these updates by January 1st.

Healthcare organizations continue to transition their approach to treating an aging population with a high rate of chronic illness. Payors and providers have ventured further into ambulatory settings where they can leverage more specialties, implement value-based care strategies, and launch tech-based programs, like chronic care management.

The benefits of adopting remote patient monitoring are mounting. According to America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), healthcare organizations are seeing evidence of those benefits through reductions in utilization, readmissions, and on-call visits, as well as increases in consumer satisfaction. RPM procedure claims grew by nearly 1,300% over the last three years.

Data analytics is no longer a luxury for physician groups, at-risk provider organizations, care management service providers, home health agencies, and large health systems. It’s a clinical and business necessity.

This month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced a new advanced primary care program. Called the Making Care Primary (MCP) Model, this new initiative will be tested in eight states over the course of 10.5 years, starting July 1, 2024.

Ideally, patient engagement goes beyond automated emails, voicemails, or educational handouts. But, many practices struggle to define what engagement means for them and their patients. Alternatively, consider partnering with patients as a more practical objective toward improving health outcomes, health-supporting behaviors, and treatment adherence.