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New Articles and Resources | |
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Making Sense of Variation in Colorado Health Care Pricing
By Phil Kalin, CIVHC President and CEO | |
 Medicare made news recently by releasing data demonstrating variation in hospital inpatient and outpatient charges and payments. Colorado is uniquely positioned to couple the Medicare information with other payer data contained in the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (APCD) to better understand and identify variation in our own backyard. Medicare's data showed substantial variation between prices charged and actual payments, which in the world of health care isn't exactly new news. Nor is the fact that charges for similar services by one hospital can be vastly different than the one down the road. Making the data public for the first time, however, does give us an opportunity to review Medicare payments alongside commercial and Medicaid payments in Colorado to start making sense of it all.
Read more |
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Staying Hopeful About Health Reform
By Edie Sonn, CIVHC VP of Strategic Planning |  Will we ever be able to stop "reforming" our health care system? I've been working on health policy issues for more than 20 years, and from the beginning my efforts were framed around health "reform." Indeed, neither the problems under discussion nor the thrust of the proposed solutions has changed much over that time period. But change is hard, particularly when agents of change are ranged against deep-pocketed industries, entrenched guilds and bureaucratic inertia. Read more |
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Having Data Isn't Enough: It's About Using Data to Improve Performance
By Bob Kershner, Director of Health System Payment Strategies |  Earlier this week, Phil Kalin and I had the pleasure of attending Health Datapalooza IV in Washington D.C. The event is the brain child of Todd Park, the Chief Technology Officer of the United States (what an incredibly cool job title!). The conference brought together many of the brightest minds in the country who are working to solve the health care challenges we face today by releasing health care data, or as Todd Park put it, "Data Liberacion!". Just four years ago, this event was a meeting of 46 people in a small conference room in DC. These visionaries understood how the release of health care data could change the way we deliver health care in this country and committed to expanding the availability and uses of health care data for public good. This year, the event had over 2000 attendees including IT experts, health care providers, government agencies and policy institutes. Read more |
New Colorado Public Health White Paper Now Available |  A joint white paper from CIVHC and the Colorado Association of Local Public Health Officers explores the role local public health agencies (LPHAs) play in helping Colorado achieve the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower costs. It details the wide array of services LPHAs may provide in Colorado and highlights opportunities for collaboration among LPHAs, primary care providers, hospitals and health plans. This paper provides a foundation for additional discussions about how to maximize all elements of Colorado's health care system to create seamless, coordinated systems of care. Download the white paper |
Bundled Payment Seminar Summary and Video Available |  If you missed our May 1st CIVHC Connect Bundled Payment Seminar or you would like to share the information with a friend or colleague, the full video and summary of the event is now available. You can also download a copy of the speaker presentations and CIVHC's overview of bundled payment programs in Colorado. Seminar Resources |
Senator Michael Bennet to Keynote Healthy Transitions Colorado Kickoff July 8 | 
When: July 8, 7:30-10:00am
Where: University of CO Hospital, Anschutz Campus
Description: Join CIVHC and operating partners for the Healthy Transitions Colorado campaign launch where keynote speaker Senator Michael Bennet will kick off this collaborative, multi-organizational campaign to keep Coloradan's healthy and save millions of dollars in health care costs.
More Info and Registration |
Spreading the Triple Aim Message | |
 Below are just a few examples of upcoming external stakeholder meetings where CIVHC is promoting better health, better care and lower costs.
- Health Datapalooza IV (Affiliate panel) - June 3
- State Farm bi-annual Summit- June 7
- CO Medical Society Webinar - June 18
- CO Health Care Association Symposium (registration) - July 9
Contact us if you would like us to present at your upcoming event! |
The Center for Improving Value in Health Care is a non-profit, collaborative organization supporting the Triple Aim for health care in Colorado: better health, better care, and lower costs. We would like to thank The Colorado Trust, the Colorado Health Foundation, Rose Community Foundation and Caring for Colorado for providing funding to support our organization and focus areas. |
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