  |
News
Medical Economics Project Under Way
Recent News
- Network Statistics
Published: - CTS Delivers the Answers You Need Now, Not Later
Published: - Nebraska Heart to Join Catholic Health Initiatives
Published: - Rapid City Neurologists Join Network
Published: - Mobile Nurse Managed Clinic Serves Rural Communities
Published: - 2011 Iowa/Nebraska Healthcare Legislation Wrap Up
Published: - Radiology Provider Offers Reduced Rates
Published: - Women's Health Providers Join Network
Published: - 5010 Readiness
Published: - Network Statistics
Published: - URAC Accreditation
Published: - CMS Radiology Requirement
Published: - Regional Directories
Published: - Law’s Provisions Influence Business Owners’ Choices
Published: - Midlands Choice Participates in Employer Forum
Published: - Medical Economics Project Under Way
Published: - Paper Claims Must be Typed
Published: - 5010 Preparedness
Published: - Thank You
Published: - Phasing Out Printed Directories
Published: - Business Associate Agreements
Published: - The Iowa Clinic Medical Imaging Pre-certification
Published: - News Archives
We have been working on a clinical reporting project with Thomson Reuters over the past year. This effort will provide valuable information on clinical performance, utilization, and benchmarking based on episodes of care using Thomson Reuters' medical episode grouper (MEG) methodology. MEG data provides the ability to do comparative analyses on severity adjusted groupings encompassing all facility and professional charges rather than single procedures or rates based on isolated encounters.
According to Dan McCulley, medical economics director, in addition to helping our providers identify possible improvement opportunities, this puts Midlands Choice in a better position as discussions throughout the healthcare industry continue to emphasize moving away from fee-for-service to episode-based payment.
Ultimately, McCulley said, episodic data can be used by providers to help support decision-making about which treatment protocols have the best outcomes and make the best use of resources. This coordination and optimization of care delivery is a key component of Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), which we're seeing growth of in our market area.
Jean Scharfenkamp, senior clinical analyst, has presented our new reporting capabilities to several provider organizations in an effort to introduce them to the new data and determine if we were moving in the right direction.
"The response so far has been very positive," McCulley said. "At this stage, we are working on developing a road map for how this information can be used and evolve to benefit not only providers, but also our customers and members."
We will keep you informed of our progress.
