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In This Issue
CIVHC is Having a Baby -- and You're Invited to Help Us Raise It
What Makes the Cut for Colorado APCD Public Reports?
Five Things Physicians Need to Stop Doing if They Want to Lead
Spotlight on Innovation: Using Technology to Advance the Triple Aim
Funding Now Available for Customized Colorado APCD Data Pulls
Children's Hospital Colorado Receives Health Innovation Award
Articles of Interest

Consumers Demand Lower Rates, Universal Care

 

16 Colorado Hospitals Likely to Face Penalties for Patient Care 

 

70% of Providers Don't Think Accountable Care is Worth it 

 

State Mental Health Services for Young Adults 'Inadequate': Report 

 

Why Consumers Can't Make Rational Health-Care Choices 

 

CIVHC is Having a Baby -- and You're Invited to Help Us Raise It

By Edie Sonn, CIVHC Interim CEO and Vice President of Strategic Initiatives

Edie Sonn

On July 31, the Colorado All Payer Claims Database website will launch the first phase of comparative price and quality information for hospitals in Colorado. While this phase will be modest-a baby step-it is nonetheless significant, marking the first time Coloradans will be able to see real pricing information across all commercial payers and Medicaid for hospital-based services.

 

To understand this better, let's explore what our baby looks like now, and our plans for helping it grow.

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What Makes the Cut for Colorado APCD Public Reports?

By Jonathan Mathieu, CIVHC Director of Data and Research


Jonathan Mathieu

The Colorado APCD currently contains approximately 86 million medical claims and about 100 million pharmacy claims submitted by commercial health insurance companies and Medicaid. These claims currently reflect health care utilization and spending for the period 2009 through 2012 and represent nearly 3.1 million unique Coloradans. I speak from personal experience when I say that this is a lot of claims data!  Despite the vast amount of claims currently in the APCD, the public website www.cohealthdata.org doesn't reflect all of the claims received or all health care services provided in Colorado.

Five Things Physicians Need to Stop Doing if They Want to Lead

By Jay Want, MD, CIVHC Chief Medical Officer


Originally featured on WantHealthcareLLC.com.
Jay Want

In my last post, I talked about the need for physician leadership in the massive amounts of re-engineering necessary to get to a sustainable American health care system. This time around I want to talk about what we need to do differently, because the old saying is true: if you keep doing what you're doing, you'll keep getting what you're getting.

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Spotlight on Innovation: Using Technology to Advance the Triple Aim

 By Stephanie Spriggs, CIVHC Program Assistant

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From the peaks to the plains, Colorado Telehealth Network (CTN) is laying the foundation to bring Coloradans access to affordable health care.

 

Colorado Telehealth Network was created in 2008 as a joint endeavor between the Colorado Hospital Association (CHA) and the Colorado Behavioral Healthcare Council (CBHC). CHA and CBHC each received federal grant money to set up statewide, dedicated health care broadband networks. Rather than compete or overlap efforts, they combined initiatives and established CTN; a project dedicated to improving the technology infrastructure with the ultimate goal of improving access to health care in underserved areas of Colorado. 

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Funding Now Available for Customized Colorado APCD Data Pulls

CIVHC and the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing (HCPF) are pleased to announce the availability of $500,000 in funding to enable public and nonprofit organizations to license data from the Colorado All Payer Claims Database (CO APCD). 

 

The funding cycle begins July 1, 2014, and is available on a first-come, first-serve basis to small non-profits, state agencies and research organizations. Data requests must be used in support of the Triple Aim of better health, better care and lower costs for Coloradans.

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Children's Hospital Colorado Receives Health Innovation Award

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Children's Hospital Colorado is part of a multi-state Health Care Innovation Award announced this week by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation. The project, "Coordinating All Resources Effectively (CARE) for Children with Medical Complexity," is the recipient of over $23 million, to be shared among six states. CARE will use a three-pronged approach to lower costs and improve care coordination for children with needs not easily addressed by current models. The program will first develop a tiered system of care so a wide spectrum of needs can be met in the most appropriate setting and then establish a payment system to enable sustainability and flexibility within the tiers. The final prong will create a network of learning so providers and payers can communicate knowledge and improve care across the nation.

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Improving Value, Reducing Harm: Right Care Alliance Conference

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In October, Denver will play host to the Right Care Alliance Regional Conference; an event dedicated to the discussion of overuse, underuse, and misuse of medical resources. Join the conversation and learn what tools are available to provide ethical and value-added care. This conference is presented by the Lown Institute in partnership with the University of Colorado Department of Medicine. 

Learn More and Register Here 

CMS Launches Restructured Quality Improvement Program 

hands The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is restructuring the Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) Program, effective August 1, 2014. The QIO Program is an integral part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' national quality strategy for providing better care, better health at lower costs, and providing "boots on the ground" technical assistance through a national network of independent organizations working to improve care delivery at the community level. The updated approach to improving care will allow for greater efficiencies across the program, eliminate any perceived conflicts of interest and will continue to emphasize the need for greater patient-centered care in support of the needs of Medicare beneficiaries.

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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.