Denver Medical Study Group

Innovation in Health Care—It’s Not Just an App HEALTHCARE INNOVATION: JEFF HELTON, PHD, FHFMA, CMA, CFE   THE WORD INNOVATION GETS A LOT OF USE IN THE OFFICES OF HEALTHCARE EXECUTIVES THESE DAYS, MOST OF THE TIME IN REFERENCE TO SOME TYPE OF TECHNOLOGY. Technologies and new applications in health care are nice, but innovation is a lot more than technology. We should have a broader view of innovation than simply a high-cost new medical device or something we plug…

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When suffering from chronic pain, symptoms affect more than just the body. Physical pain also affects mental health, emotional well-being and quality of life. Chronic pain may also cause or increase worry, anxiety, frustration, anger and depression, making the physical pain worse and hampering abilities to cope. In addition, prescription opiates,  which are commonly used to treat chronic pain, can pose a challenge for some patients, including hyperalgesia (increased sensitivity to pain) and a risk for addiction. Needless to say,…

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  Foundations’ Role In Creating And Advancing Policies That Prevent Disease And Promote Mental Health And Well-Being Benjamin F. Miller Anne De Biasi JULY 26, 2018   Deaths from drugs, alcohol, and suicide are driving the first reductions in life expectancy in the United States in the past two decades. At the same time, racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities in health and well-being have widened since 1980, and a number of emerging trendsthreaten to exacerbate these. The United States still spends far more on health care…

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Healthcare Reform Across State Lines Exploring differences by state   A recent webinar examined how different providers approach the opportunities and challenges brought by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Industry leaders in Florida, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey and Pennsylvania shared their views. Below are highlights.   Visit our Healthcare Reform Across State Lines webinar replay for more insights. ACCESS VARIES SIGNIFICANTLY STATE-BY-STATE Each state interprets the ACA in its own way, driving provider strategy and impacting coverage, rates and costs….

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Five Technologies Set to Transform the Healthcare Industry Written by John Hesselmann, Specialized Industries Executive, Global Commercial Banking at Bank of America Merrill Lynch The future of healthcare will streamline the way we diagnose and treat health problems. We are already seeing signs of that today: from patients who receive diagnoses and treatment at home via telemedicine and heart-monitoring wearables, to artificially intelligent therapists diagnosing PTSD in veterans. Innovation in healthcare can decrease our dependency on physician availability. To that…

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HOW TODAY’S M&As ARE PREPARING HEALTHCARE ORGANIZATIONS FOR A NEW FUTURE Brent McDonald Head of Healthcare Strategic Advisory, Managing Director Bank of America In the face of seismic industry shifts, challenging regulations, and constant uncertainty in Washington, providers are reshaping the healthcare landscape themselves by entering into strategic mergers, acquisitions, and partnerships. Today’s deals are reflective of the times, says Brent McDonald, head of healthcare strategic advisory and managing director at Bank of America Merrill Lynch. “Most providers who are looking to…

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Adoption of  fully electronic transactions varies significantly according to Key Bank’s white paper “From Crawl to Walk to Run”. From Streamlining business processes with new tools abounding, there are five questions CEOs should ask about their current payment management strategies. You can also educate the healthcare consumer with five strategies for improving patient relations in the front office. Look for best practices for communicating with patients about prices, billing and payments. Ultimately, you will be able to lower the cost…

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SIM recruits final cohort, prepares practices for success with APMs Sustainable healthcare reform requires new skills and a different understanding of how practices articulate their unique value to succeed in alternative payment models that reward the value (not volume) of care delivered. The Colorado State Innovation Model (SIM), which is recruiting for its third and final cohort, helps practices integrate behavioral and physical health, use data in actionable ways and retool processes to provide team-based, patient-centered care. One example of…

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Even among the majority of practices that have a policy, current training methods are too passive, MGMA experts say. Beth Jones Sanborn, Managing Editor, Healthcare Finance News   According to a recent MGMA stat poll, more than 80 percent of healthcare organizations have a sexual harassment policy. However, experts say just having a policy isn’t enough. It all comes down to training and enforcement. The poll conducted on December 12 analyzed 1,237 responses. Of those who responded, 84 percent said their…

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  Dea Robinson, FACMPE Independent Healthcare Consultant Doctoral Student Colorado State University Organizational Learning, Performance & Change dea_robinson@live.com drobinso@colostate.edu “NO REPEAL. NO REPLACE. HOW ABOUT WE AGREE TO AMEND?” Either way, “Obamacare” will most likely change in the near future and while there have been speakers, debates and numerous articles on what could happen, there are other factors that are being neglected.  To this point, let’s just go with what the last speaker, T.R. Reid said at the last Denver…

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