Big Picture: Keeping Track of Trends in Health Care

Readers seeking to stay abreast of or influence policy discussions on strengthening Medicaid-funded disability supports might find inspiration in the content shared below, which highlights trends in the broader health care field.

Modern Healthcare article on new company focusing on telehealth: “Cleveland Clinic and Boston-based telehealth company American Well are forming a joint venture digital health company, called The Clinic, to provide broad access to comprehensive and high-acuity care services via telehealth to reach patients nationally and globally, according to a news release.

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Cleveland Clinic has seen a rapid increase in the use of virtual visits to deliver patient care, with the number of annual visits growing by 68% in 2018 alone. Telehealth is a key part of its aim to double the number of patients it serves in the next five years, a lofty goal Dr. Tom Mihaljevic, president and CEO of Cleveland Clinic, announced earlier this year.

The health system projects that 50% of outpatient visits will be virtual in just five years, according to the release.”

Politico Agenda report on North Carolina’s health care innovations: “North Carolina is pushing big bold ideas about quality, value and social determinants of health. And the bipartisan support in both Raleigh and Washington suggests that these ideas aren’t a progressive blip but an increasingly ingrained part of how policymakers and practitioners are thinking more broadly about what ‘health’ means and how to attain it.”

ANCOR note: Politico Agenda also has a companion article on how the North Carolina effort looks “from the perspective of an urban safety net, a rural family doctor, a remote community clinic and a disabled, homeless man.”

California Health Care Foundation Webinar – “Accelerating Value-Based Payment in Federally Qualified Health Centers: Options for Medicaid Health Plans”: Slides available from the webinar, which already occurred, “highlight examples of promising FQHC payment approaches in California and Colorado. The VBP models featured are designed to give FQHCs more flexibility in delivering patient-centered care and the ability to obtain financial incentives from improving quality and reducing costs across the larger health care system, and do not require state or federal action.”