The Rundown | Week of 5.1.2017

Healthcare is a rapidly evolving industry – it’s difficult to read up on everything that matters to you. But the success of your practice can depend on how knowledgeable you are about changes in the healthcare landscape. Privia has compiled a weekly list of important articles we are reading on healthcare industry trends, clinical best practices and legislative updates for your convenience. Here are some of the important articles and blogs on health care that stood out this week:

• Confusion over medical facilities could cost a bundle, Houston Chronicle

Interesting clip: “The average overall cost of a visit to a free-standing clinic can be 15 times higher than the average visit to an urgent-care clinic, an analysis of three years of insurance claims found. In 2015, the average price was $2,199 versus $168, respectively.”

• Day 2 of Datapalooza: More Providers Seeking Social Determinants Data, Healthcare Informatics

Interesting clip: “The presentations at the 8th annual Health Datapalooza in Washington, D.C., this week confirmed that sharing data across sectors is becoming more important in a value-based payment world. There were many references to getting a 360-degree view of patients’ lives to better understand the context of the care they are receiving.”

• [Study] Association of Primary Care Practice Location and Ownership With the Provision of Low-Value Care in the United States, The JAMA Network

Findings: In this nationally representative sample of primary care visits, hospital-based outpatient practices used more low-value computed tomography and magnetic resonance imaging, radiographs, and specialty referrals for common conditions than community-based office practices, particularly during hospital-based visits with someone other than the patient’s primary care provider. Hospital-owned community-based practices made more specialty referrals than physician-owned community-based practices but were otherwise similar.”

• 3 thoughts on how to improve patient financial experience, Becker’s Hospital CFO

Interesting clip: “‘What you get is perspective from loyal patients, which doesn’t say how patient financial experience is driving loyalty,’ says Mr. Green. ‘But what you want to get out of patient financial experience is an expansion of your brand and expansion of your loyalty so you are driving both brand recognition and ultimately incremental revenue.’ Overall, Advisory Board recommends an open-ended, unbiased market survey to understand what patients want as far as billing improvements and financial services..”

• [Infographic] Who Pays For Your Medication, Business Insider

This graphic depicts the flow medication pricing and how that cost ultimately gets divided between consumers and insurers.