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The article focuses on the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) in diagnosing medical conditions and its widespread influence in healthcare. Topics include AI's proficiency in medical diagnosis through machine learning and natural language processing, its real-world applications in various medical fields, and its role in personalized medicine and integration of AI in medical diagnostics offers benefits such as faster and more accurate diagnoses, and early disease detection.

Transitional care management (TCM) services, introduced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2013, aim to improve care coordination, reduce hospital readmissions and lower healthcare costs. These services involve communication with patients, face-to-face visits, and medication reconciliation, among other appropriate services, for 30 days after discharge from the inpatient setting. TCM services have been shown to confer significant benefits in reducing mortality rates, hospital readmission rates, and healthcare expenditures, all while offering primary care practices an additional source of revenue. Further adoption and refinement of TCM services may help to bridge the gap towards a valuebased care model and help improve patient outcomes and reduce overall healthcare costs. This paper introduces the benefits of TCM, its adoption by practices, the billing and reimbursement of TCM services, and the challenges and solutions in implementing a TCM program. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quality measures are tools that help measure healthcare processes, outcomes, patient perceptions, and organizational systems, with the ability to provide high-quality healthcare. These goals include effective, safe, efficient, patient-centered, equitable, and timely care. Thus, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched the Chronic Care Management (CCM) program in 2015, compensating providers for time spent managing complex patient conditions beyond the clinic. Understanding the utility, implementation, and trends of CCM may be key to fostering the Quadruple Aim of improving healthcare quality further. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A reprint of the article "Effects of Social Media and Online Reviews on Healthcare: Social media has had both positive and negative effects on physicians," published in Volume 1, Issue 4 of "The Healthcare Administration Leadership and Management Journal" is presented. Topics include positive effects of social media on the healthcare industry, effect of negative reviews on the reputation of healthcare professionals and facilities, and impact of social media on job satisfaction of physicians.

As healthcare consolidation continues unabated, large corporations and equity firms acquire and merge in every kind of market. And while such acquisitions can bring several advantages, including enhanced financial stability, operational efficiencies, and improved access to capital and investments, we must consider the potential disadvantages associated with this trend as well. Those disadvantages include concerns regarding: • The loss of autonomy and local decisionmaking - Deeply rooted in their communities, providers in smaller practices swept up by big corporations may find it harder to respond to the specific needs and preferences of the population they have served. They may feel limited in their ability to tailor services to the specific needs of their patients, or find solutions and innovations apropos to the local community they have been serving. • Impacts on quality of care and patient-centeredness - Large corporations may prioritize cost control, efficiency, and productivity at the expense of a small practice's highly-valued goals of personalized care and patient relationships. • The potential for reduced competition and loss of patient choice - In a free market, it is natural for consolidation to reduce choices for consumers. The FTC says that in an environment of reduced competition, healthcare costs have usually risen--without any improvement in quality. If stakeholders in healthcare mergers and acquisitions do not consider possibilities for the advantages and disadvantages, they will jeopardize the long-term success of the consolidated system. That means the entire planning and negotiating processes--at the front end--must constantly and critically assess these complexities. The plan must include appropriate strategies to enable healthcare professionals and communities to design a new system that ensures enough local control to keep providing patient-centered, accessible, and affordable healthcare of the highest quality possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses updates and trends in the U.S. healthcare sector, particularly the implementation of bundled payment or episode-based payments (EBP) programs in ambulatory surgical centers (ASC). Also cited are how the Affordable Care Act mandated the use of value-based purchasing (VBP) programs for payments under the Medicare program for ASCs, and a comparison of EBPs against population-based alternative payment models (APM).

The article discusses the implementation of the Quadruple Aim framework to successfully transition the U.S. healthcare industry to a value-based care model from a fee-for-service (FFS) model. The aim is to enhance healthcare outcomes and reduce total medical costs. Also cited are the factors causing physician burnout including inefficient work processes and computerized provider order entry (CPOE).

HEALTHCARE COSTS are continually on the rise. Between 1995 and 2015, U.S. healthcare spending grew at an annual rate of 4 percent, which far outpaces the annual economic growth rate [...]

The article offers information on value based care (VBC), which has become the norm for more healthcare organizations. Orthopedic surgery, specifically within the realm of arthroplasty, was one of the first areas impacted by VBC. In response, the Acute Care Episode project was started as a venture from 2009 to 2011 in which bundled payments for total knee arthroplasty and total hip arthroplasty were trialed at three hospitals.

The article discusses how patients are using social media for personal healthcare information in 2023. Topics covered include the increase of such information and interaction with other patients and healthcare professionals via platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the possible spread of misinformation through them, and the retention question among content users. Also noted are healthcare professionals' need to be ready to educate patients and to refute misinformation on social media.

The article reports that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded reimbursement in the primary care setting for adopting systems and processes to encourage chronic care management (CCM) as a part of expanding value-based care under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) program. It mentions that adopting and adapting strategies for chronic care RPM is of paramount concern of MIPS.

The article offers information related to the management of cost of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the U.S. Topics discussed include implementation of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) initiative; information on changes in the effective reimbursement strategies; and efforts for minimizing length of healthcare stay, reducing readmission rates and adhering to quality metrics.

The article focuses on maximizing reimbursement in heart failure in the U.S. Topics discussed include implementation of the Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Service for heart failures; expanding coverage for cardiac rehabilitation; and remote monitoring of physiologic parameters in the chronic management of heart failure patients.

The article offers information on Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement model for helping orthopedic surgeons in lower extremity hip and knee joint replacements. It mentions that the model was designed to more efficiently care for beneficiaries by examining bundle payment and quality measurement for an episode of care while encouraging coordination of care from the preoperative visit through recovery.

The article reports on the move of the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to move away from traditional fee-for-service models for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) procedures and instead invested in alternative payment models through bundled payments. The goal of the payment plans to incentivize multidisciplinary approaches and eliminate unnecessary services is tackled. The quality measures of the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model are also explored.

The article discusses a study from July 2016 to June 2017 on the impact of scribes on documentation burden on the part of physicians. Highlights include the influence of scribes on the medical workplace, the actual training time as a potential drawback of hiring scribes, and implementation of policies that prevent scribes from touching a patient and helping hospital staff.

We are an academic practice in the Georgia Health Sciences University, Augusta, with 26 interns and residents, and 21 full- and part-time faculty. About 32% of our patients are on [...]

The article discusses ways to Incorporate mobile health applications into the primary care practice in the U.S. and how technology has transformed almost may areas of daily life, including the healthcare industry.

The article explores the benefits, challenges and pitfalls of social media for physicians in the U.S. Topics covered include the frequent violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) protections regarding patient information that social media may bring, the ability of social media to strengthen discussion and data transfer, and ways that physicians can take to maintain confidentiality on social media.

The article presents a reprint of the article "The Diabetic Patient and Non-Adherence: Education, Communication, and Technology Can Make the Difference," which appeared in the July/August 2020 issue of "The Journal of Medical Practice Management." It discusses the adverse effects of non-adherence to medical therapy on healthcare costs and treatment outcomes, as well as the prevalence of conditions like diabetes, hypertension, and obesity in the U.S.