Why medicine needs a cloud

In the new era of value-based payment, how physicians use performance measures and data offers the potential to make strides in improving health outcomes. The new payment systems need to be designed around patient care, experts agree. One surgeon recently shared his point of view and explained how his association is using data to improve patient care and creating technology tools that could benefit physicians across the country. A payment system designed around patient care, not the reverse When we look at performance measures from a physician standpoint, “they’re traveling down one of two pathways, whether it’s [the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or alternative payment models (APM)],” Frank Opelka, MD, said at a recent Health Affairs’ forum, “Envisioning the future of value-based payment.” Dr. Opelka is a professor of surgery at Louisiana State University (LSU) School of Medicine, chair of the Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement, and medical director of quality and health policy at the American College of Surgeons (ACS). He also is leading a statewide effort in Louisiana to use data for quality improvement, real-time clinical decision support and outputs for national data registries. It doesn’t matter whether clinicians are in the MIPS or an APM, Dr. Opelka said. “This is all about patient care, not a payment system … we’ll tack on a payment system … that’s how [clinicians] are thinking about this.” According to...
Source: AMA Wire - Category: Journals (General) Authors: Source Type: news