Noncompete clauses may become a thing of the past as the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is expected to vote on its proposal to ban noncompete language in employment contracts in April of 2024.

May is mental health awareness month, facilitated by the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the theme for 2023 is “more than enough” (the 2022 theme was “back to basics”).

National Nurses Week is upon us! Officially going from Saturday, May 6 to Friday, May 12, 2023, with the 2023 theme being “Nurses Make a Difference: Anytime, Anywhere – Always”. According to the American Nurses Association, there are currently over 4 million Registered Nurses in America. 

The U.S. healthcare market continues its trend toward vertical integration with the launch of Risant Health, a new value-based care, integrated health organization recently announced by Kaiser Permanente and Geisinger Health. Geisinger, a Pennsylvania-based, ten-hospital system, will be the first to join the organization via acquisition (pending regulatory approval).

Over the last several weeks, we’ve focused on readiness for joining an Accountable Care Organization, or ACO. We’ve explored what an ACO is, shown how to see if your practice is ready to join an ACO, and shared five key questions to assess before either forming your own ACO or joining an existing ACO.

It’s no news that the U.S. has been experiencing a primary care shortage, but the impact of that shortage is now being seen on the patient side according to a recent study from FAIR Health, a nonprofit that collects data on privately billed and Medicare health insurance claims.

As we continue our series discussing Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs, we now move from the topic of forming your own ACO to what are some key questions to ask before joining an existing ACO. Entering an existing ACO can be a lucrative and well aligned way to accomplish success in value based care for your MSSP patients, but you may find yourself facing buyers’ remorse if you don’t go in well-informed. If you do make a decision that doesn’t align with your practice’s priorities and goals, you will be locked into the model for at least one year, possibly more, depending on the terms of your agreement.

Over the last several weeks, we’ve been in a series discussing Accountable Care Organizations, or ACOs. We began this month by reviewing “What is an ACO and what do you need to know about them?”, and we continued last week by giving some tips to answer the question “Is your practice ready to join an ACO?”.

The U.S. House of Representatives recently put forth a bill to end both the national emergency and the public health emergency (PHE) for the COVID-19 pandemic early. President Biden signed a version of the bill on April 10, ending the national emergency, but the PHE will continue until May 11, at which point it, too, will expire.

If you are a primary care practice, you’re most likely aware of the CMS directive to have all Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries in an arrangement that includes accountability for quality and total cost of care by 2030. You’ve also most likely been approached within the last few weeks about joining an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), likely by multiple different groups, or you’ve done research and heard about ACOs recently. With Phase 1 of the ACO application period of May 18, 2023 through June 15, 2023 and Phase 2 July 11, 2023 through August 1, 2023, being aware of the deadlines is important, but even more important is being prepared to succeed in an ACO, and making the decision to even join one for the 2024 performance year.

With cold and flu season winding down, now is a great time to schedule classes, webinars, or conferences that will count towards the CEU and CME requirement for the providers and staff in your practice.

If you are a primary care practice, you’ve likely been approached within the last few weeks about joining an Accountable Care Organization (ACO), possibly by multiple different groups. The reason for this flurry of activity is Phase 1 of the ACO application program goes from May 18 to June 15, 2023 and the final phase to add TINs to an ACO is July 11 to August 1, 2023. If you’re not already in an ACO, you’ll need to make some important decisions about whether or not to join an ACO for 2024, and which ACO to join. 

Health equity has become a topic of increased awareness and interest in the last several years, and CMS has most assuredly taken notice. Before you think that this is not my practice, not my concern, and not something I have to worry about, it’s best to be informed of what health equity is, what CMS is doing about it, and why health equity matters at your practice.

CMS issues an updated Advance Notice document each year, officially titled for 2024 “Advance Notice of Methodological Changes for Calendar Year (CY) 2024 for Medicare Advantage (MA) Capitation Rates and Part C and Part D Payment Policies”.

McKinsey & Company recently released A REPORT detailing the healthcare industry outlook. With inflation rates and LABOR SHORTAGES, the expected growth for healthcare profits dropped from 6% in the 2021 report to 4%. While outlooks aren’t what they were just a couple of years ago, there are certain sectors that may see higher growth–in particular, Medicare Advantage with payers, which is forecasted to see greater than 10% growth in profits.

The CMS Innovation Center (CMMI) has produced many directives recently, many of which deal with the future of value based care. A 2021 strategy statement summarized the vision of CMMI, with these two statements showing how to measure progress.

In case you missed the news: The Amazon acquisition of One Medical officially closed on February 22. In one of our recent newsletters, we talked about Amazon’s entrance into the medical world through Amazon Clinic–which provides quick treatments for common conditions in 20 states.

The Dictionary defines leadership as “the action of leading a group of people or an organization”. There are a variety of interpretations of what it means to be a leader but I would like to expand on this and create a definition of the word specific to the primary care setting. Leadership in primary care is “the action of inspiring, encouraging, and empowering a team of people to work together to provide high quality care to their patients resulting in positive outcomes and strong interpersonal relationships”.

With the public health emergency and the impact of Covid on the overall workforce, we’ve all become even more familiar with terms such as “The Great Resignation” and “toxic culture”. Especially in the overburdened healthcare industry, with many clinical and support areas experiencing shortages of employees or shifts in employee responsibilities, the topic of workplace culture has become even more critical.

Does the culture of a practice impact the quality of care a patient receives? Research shows it does. It is well known that engaged employees are more productive and have greater job satisfaction. Let's look at how culture can help an organization achieve higher quality care for their patients. According to Merriam-Webster, culture is "the set of shared attitudes, values, goals, and practices that characterizes an institution or organization". If a practice is solely focused on volume and revenue with no regard for the providers and team, the result is likely a negative culture with burnout and high turnover rates.