News
Nurses are Burned Out. Can Quality Measures Help?
April 2022
More than half of nurses are burned out. The consequences are severe. Even before the COVID-19 pandemic, nurses around the country reported feeling overworked and burned out. In a recent survey, the American Nurses Association found that 62% of nurses report symptoms of burnout. Burnout, characterized by energy depletion or exhaustion, job-related feelings of negativism…
Olympics During a Universal Crisis
April 2022
Every four years, countries around the globe assemble in the biggest celebration of sporting events, the Olympics. The Olympics offer undiluted enchantment that holds the world spellbound. Amid a pandemic athletes and spectators have had an experience unlike any other at these last two Olympics. Host countries took various countermeasures to ensure the safety of…
Lessons from COVID-19: Leverage Increased Public Awareness to Improve Staffing Levels and Stability
April 2022
Some problems are so pervasive that even well-intentioned efforts to solve them feel overwhelming and inadequate. The staffing crisis is one of them. Workforce shortages jeopardize the health and safety of both long-term care residents and the staff who care for them. Staffing challenges are intertwined with long-standing issues, including wage levels and stigma, which…
Medicare Updates ACO Models
March 2022
Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are a foundation of Medicare’s value-based purchasing program. Medicare has announced updates to the ACO program, to be known as REACH, which stands for Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health. The model updates focus on ACO governance updates to ensure better care for underserved populations. CMS is accepting applications for ACO…
Modeling Challenges in Cost-Effectiveness Analysis of First-Line Immuno-Oncology Therapies in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
March 2022
Lung cancer is the leading cause of global cancer-related mortality, accounting for 1.80 million deaths annually; non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) accounts for 85-90% of lung cancers. One of the most promising treatment modalities for NSCLC that has emerged in recent years is that of immune-oncology therapy (IO). A systematic literature review was conducted to…
CMS Signals Interest in Building More Social Risk Focused Measures on STAR Ratings
March 2022
CMS included in their advance notice for Medicare Advantage and Medicare Part D STAR rating measure concepts and methodological enhancements that signal CMS interest in bringing health-related social risks into an accountability framework. Medicare STAR ratings were created to provide Medicare beneficiaries and their families with publicly reported plan performance and a framework for government…
Lessons from COVID-19: Issue Clear Guidance that Reflects Person-Centered Care Principles
February 2022
Person-centered care values have been endorsed by policymakers, providers, and consumers of long-term care, yet current regulations and policies provide conflicting guidance about how to prioritize or achieve it. The pandemic brought into sharp focus the conflict between paternalistic protective measures and person-centered care, highlighting the tension between safety and autonomy or meaningful living for…
Expedited Knowledge Synthesis of Health Policy and Systems: Rapid Reviews to Determine the Requirement for a Full Health Technology Assessment
February 2022
Health technology assessment (HTA) is a multidisciplinary process employed to systematically examine the costs and outcomes associated with new health technologies. As the demand for the reimbursement of drugs from finite health care budgets increase, greater pressure on HTA agencies persists. One such response to pressure is rapid reviews (RRs). In Ireland, these HTAs are…
Quality Measurement Has a Role in Supporting the Move to Less is More in Care
February 2022
Low-value care is having a moment. Low-value care is actually having several moments of reflection, but is that translating to action? A recent JAMA Network editorial article, “The Next Frontier of Less Is More—From Description to Implementation,” calls out how incentives to reduce low-value care are lacking at the health system level and describes how…
How Patient-Centered Outcomes Drive Care Transformation: The Arizona Coalition Model
February 2022
As many as 4 in 10 adult Americans have two or more chronic conditions like heart disease, cancer, chronic lung disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. Nationally, people with chronic and mental health conditions account for 90% of the 3.8 trillion dollars of health care expenditures. Many people with serious illness may…