News
Discern Health Acts to Address Social Justice & Health Equity
June 2020
Events over the past several weeks have, yet again, demonstrated that the US has a significant amount of work to do to ensure equal treatment and rights for all citizens. The senseless deaths of George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, Tony McDade, Rayshard Brooks, and so many others are a tragic reminder of the systemic…
New Report: Best Practices for Increasing Use of Advance Care Planning
May 2020
The Coalition to Transform Advanced Care (C-TAC) has released a report designed to identify strategies to boost the use of advance care planning (ACP), a practice that is now more important than ever as the world faces the uncertainties of the COVID-19 pandemic. Discern Health conducted the report research, which will help to further develop…
Quality Outlook Blog: Why Indirect Benefits of Cancer Care Matter
May 2020
In the latest installment of Discern Health’s Quality Outlook blog series in the Journal of Clinical Pathways, Partner Tom Valuck and Directors David Blaisdell and Manasi Tirodkar explore how indirect benefits related to the use of cancer care products and services fit into health care value assessments. These indirect benefits include avoidance of costs to patients, caregivers, employers, and society…
Discern Health Offers Vendor Solutions for Improved Quality and Market Differentiation
May 2020
As value-based care transforms the US health care system, health service and product vendors—including care management, health coaching, technology, and telehealth companies—must differentiate themselves in a competitive market. Health care vendors that proactively implement strategies, such as strengthening value propositions, expanding offerings, and developing strategic partnerships, can position themselves as leaders in the value-based environment….
Takeaways from the National Committee for Quality Assurance’s “Quality Talks”
May 2020
Discern Health was a sponsor of the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA)’s annual “Quality Talks” conference that was held virtually on April 28. During the event, health care leaders participated in a series of stirring, succinct talks with ideas about how to collaboratively improve American health care, focusing on the implications of the current…
Anne Johnson Joins Discern Health as Project Manager
May 2020
Anne Johnson, MPH, recently joined Discern Health as a Project Manager. Anne has 10 years of health policy and qualitative research experience and expertise in areas such as Affordable Care Act implementation and behavioral health policy. At Discern, she helps clients meet their goals by leveraging her experience in project management, stakeholder education and outreach,…
Discern Health to Submit COVID-19 MIPS Improvement Activity to CMS
April 2020
Discern Health will develop and submit to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) a new Improvement Activity (IA) for inclusion in Medicare’s Quality Payment Program for physicians. The proposed IA will focus on personal protective equipment (PPE) management and training in physician practices. If accepted by CMS, the new IA would give credit…
New Report: Recommendations for Patient and Family Engagement in Measure Development
April 2020
Harnessing the stories, ideas, and innovations of patient and caregiver partners is the key to making measurement meaningful. With support from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and National Quality Forum (NQF), Patient Family Centered Care Partners (PFCCpartners) and Discern Health facilitated the 2020 Patient Family Advisor (PFA) Summit on Measure Development to help advance…
Discern Health Offers Provider Solutions for Improved Quality Measurement & Value-Based Payment
April 2020
Health care provider organizations play a significant role in improving patient outcomes and reducing overall health care costs in the value-based care environment. To keep patients’ needs as the central focus and to reduce the burden on clinicians, organizations must have the information they need to effectively manage competing priorities. Discern Health helps provider organizations…
Discern Health Promotes Kaitlyn Whiton to Director
April 2020
Discern Health recently promoted Kaitlyn Whiton, MHS to Director. During her time at Discern, Kaitlyn has demonstrated strong project leadership skills and has helped to transform Discern’s analytics capabilities. Colleagues recognize Kaitlyn’s commitment to high-quality work, supervising and mentoring staff, proactive communication, and innovative problem solving. As a Director, Kaitlyn will use her extensive public…