CHICAGO – With well-documented gaps in health and health care across segments of the United States, the American Medical Association (AMA) today adopted policy during its Annual Meeting to define health equity and outline a strategic framework toward realizing the goal of achieving optimal health for all, referring to all aspects of health, including mental and behavioral health. To begin down that path, the AMA will establish a structural or organizational home for the effort, complete with dedicated resources, staff and budget, and a multi-year programmatic roadmap.

A poll conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) found most medical practice professionals aren’t aware of the direct primary care (DPC) model where patients pay a flat fee in exchange for easier access to their primary care doctor.

The American Hospital Association (AHA) is lending its support to a bill to change the merger review process at the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), eliminating the agency’s ability to challenge proposed combinations without going to court.

Fewer quality measures, a shorter reporting period for Meaningful Use requirements and an increase in uncompensated rate payments were all positives in the eyes of hospitals in their initial reaction to the proposed 2019 Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) rule.

At the April meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), the panel voted to recommend a 30 percent cut to payment rates for standalone emergency departments (EDs) and indicated it may suggest action on hospital quality reporting later this year.

Easing clinician burden under the payment tracks implemented as part of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) will be a priority for CMS in this year’s rulemaking, according to Kate Goodrich, MD, the agency’s chief medical officer. What won’t be changing, however, is requiring providers to meet the 2015 edition of certified electronic health record technology (CHERT) standards.

In a March 6 presentation at HIMSS18 in Las Vegas, Blake McKinney, CMO and co-founder of the virtual health platform CirrusMD, presented key learnings from how health systems and payers are meeting the needs of consumers though virtual care.

As the healthcare professionals touch down in Las Vegas for the 2018 Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), the organization released its annual survey of the marketplace. HIMSS published the 2018 U.S. HIMSS Leadership and Workforce Survey on March 6, which examines trends in employment, technology and expectations.