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Costs Go Up, Costs Go Down. What Does it all Mean?
CO APCD Top Ten List 2013
Spotlight on Innovation: Boulder Valley Care Network
APCD Readmissions Webinar Jan. 22nd
Recent News

Nonprofit Health Centers Go Into For-Profit Insurance Business

 

CO CHP+ Receives Bonus For Streamlining Enrollment, Covering More Kids

 

Growth in US Health Spending Continues at Historically Slow Rate, Despite Improved Economy

 

What's Behind Health Insurance Rate Increases?

Costs Go Up, Costs Go Down. What Does it all Mean?

By Edie Sonn, CIVHC Interim CEO and VP of Strategic Initiatives 

Edie Sonn

Two interesting data points about health care spending have emerged in the last week that, at first, may seem contradictory. Actually, though, they are entirely complementary, and both illustrate the need to continue efforts to control costs and improve quality in the health care system.

 

First was the publication of the latest findings from Oregon's 2008 Medicaid expansion, showing that newly-covered Medicaid enrollees in that state used the emergency room even more often than they did before they got Medicaid.    

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CO APCD Top Ten List 2013 

By Tracey Campbell, Director of All Payer Claims Database

As I look back on my first year with CIVHC as the Director of the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (APCD), and the first full year with an operational APCD, I think it is important to reflect on how this state resource has grown and how it's being used across Colorado.  I'm going to borrow from David Letterman's "Top Ten List" approach to benchmark the progress of Colorado's APCD and leave you with the APCD goals for 2014. 

Spotlight on Innovation: Boulder Valley Care Network 

Photo courtesy of mybvcn.org
The Boulder Valley Care Network (BVCN) may well be the only health care collaboration that can claim to have been inspired by monkeys. While visiting the Central American rainforest, Bob Jamieson, Benefits Director for Boulder Valley School District (BVSD), watched in awe as spider monkeys used each other as bridges to climb through the canopy. Witnessing their teamwork to achieve a common goal helped him envision a way to assist his employees with navigating the tumultuous waters of health care and health insurance. 
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Webinar: Readmissions and New CO APCD Data

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CIVHC and Healthy Transitions Colorado is hosting a readmissions and data webinar Jan. 22nd, 12-1pm MT.

Description: In December, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD) released new reports on all cause 30-day readmissions that make access to clear and consistent readmissions information a lot easier. During this webinar you'll learn how the data available on the CO APCD can support your work in care transitions and how looking at readmissions from different perspectives can provide new insights and help identify ways to reduce unnecessary hospitalizations. Join us to learn more about the publicly available CO APCD readmissions data and what they can do for you! 
 
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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.