See you at the Health Care Innovations Summit DC 2012 #cisummit

I'm heading down to the Health Care Innovations Summit DC 2012 today. If you'll be attending, I look forward to seeing you there!

The Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation is co-hosting the first ever Care Innovations Summit, an HCI-DC event, on January 26, 2012, in Washington, DC in collaboration with the Office of the National Coordinator at HHS, The West Wireless Health Institute, and Health Affairs to facilitate dialogue and drive action towards the three-part aim: Better care and better health at lower cost through continuous improvement.

Watch the event here: http://hcidc.org

Follow the Twitter hashtag #cisummit

CMS Innovation Advisors Program

In the months and years to come, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (Innovation Center) will seek to introduce transformative models of care delivery across the nation that will meet the aim of reducing cost and improving quality for Medicare, Medicaid, and CHIP beneficiaries.

The Innovation Advisors Program is designed to support delivery system reform, strengthening the capacity for change by creating a network of experts in improving the delivery system.

Specifically, the Innovation Advisors Program will engage individuals in the health care system to test and refine new models of payment and care delivery. Selected Innovation Advisors will refine, apply, and sustain managerial and technical skills necessary to deepen several key skill sets, including:

• Health care finance;
• Population health;
• Systems analysis; and
• Operations research

After completing this orientation, these individuals will:

• support the Innovation Center in testing new models of care delivery;
• utilize their knowledge and skills in their home organization or area in pursuit of the three-part aim of improving health, improving care, and lowering costs through continuous improvement;
• work with other local organizations or groups in driving delivery system reform;
• harvest new ideas or innovations for possible testing of diffusion by the Innovation Center; and
• build durable skill in system improvement throughout their area or region

A discussion about physician salaries on Sermo

On Sermo, you'll find physicians (and only physicians) discussing all types of things. A recent discussion has focused on the validity of national physician salary surveys.

Here's what one physician posted on Sermo:

I've researched average physician compensation for a number of specialties, including my specialty using stats from AGMA, MGMA, and other sources. I am consistently struck by how low these figures are compared with individuals I know and others I know about.

I know the limitation of these statistics is that they usually only represent employed physicians. I thought it might be interested to see whether you believe the average income (and upper and lower ranges) for your specialty is correct, and what you think the implications are.

The reality is that most physicians voted that these numbers are inflated. In some cases, they're up by 25-30%. In other cases, over 50%. As a result of these published figures, new graduates are feeling entitled to very high salaries.

Attending the Executive Health Resources (EHR) reception tonight

Tonight, Executive Health Resources or EHR is having a Cocktails & Conversation event. If you're considering a  career change, perhaps you may enjoy working for a company like EHR. What would you do as a physician advisor? Get familiar with the phrase RAC (Recovery Audit Contractor).  Not familiar with the concept?  Click here to read about RACs on the Medicare website.

Click here to view physician advisor job openings at EHR.

Here's a snippet from their website that describes the "The Physician Advisor Approach"

EHR's Physician Advisor review provides an admission status certification, which is supported by clinical evidence, compliant with CMS rules and regulations, and robust enough to withstand external scrutiny.

EHR is at the forefront of regulatory changes and monitors CMS closely in order to anticipate high-risk areas before they become a liability for the hospital. EHR has built a team of leading industry experts to conduct ongoing research and development of evidence-based, risk-stratified protocols and algorithms surrounding high-risk DRGs to assist its Physicians Advisors in defending RAC denials.

One of the most important tools in EHR's arsenal is in the area of content development. EHR has a team of physicians and nurses who are responsible for supporting our Physician Advisor teams with the latest in risk assessment and risk stratification tools. Medicare's directions in the Medicare Benefits Policy Manual require that we examine the probability that a patient will have an adverse outcome. CMS ruling 95-1 directs EHR Physician Advisors to utilize an evidence-based, literature-based standard in determining such outcomes.

EHR develops and maintains this type of information and puts it in the hands of our Physician Advisors who work directly with your hospitals. These tools involve standard high-risk diagnoses such as chest pain, congestive heart failure, and gastroenteritis. Sometimes, these tools represent wholly unique offerings, such as our Interventional Cardiac Procedure Review, which focuses on ICD's, Pacemakers, and PCI – procedures in which little or no guidance exists anywhere else. These products are developed internally and offered to our clients as the market need evolves.

Webinar series about Health IT (meaningful use of EHRs)

It seems like we're getting bombarded by free webinars focusing on the topic of "meaningful use" of electronic health (or medical) records (also known as EHRs or EMRs). NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc. has a series of webinars on EMR/EHRs and the first webinar is today. It's titled,  "Meaningful Use Definition: An Analysis For Medical Providers." Here's a brief description:

On December 30, 2009, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) finally released for public comment, the rulemaking document that defines Meaningful Use.

Be sure to sign up for this webinar to learn:

• Why and how you can participate in the public comment period
• The rulemaking document’s relationship to the healthcare reform movement
• Why it’s important to make your EHR selection now

Over the next 60 days (January 14 through March 13) the medical community will analyze this document with the intention of helping to shape its direction. Did you know, for example, that the first incentive paid in 2011 will be based on data captured for three months in 2010?

To view the entire list of NextGen webinars, click here.