Month: May 2015

Pioneer ACO Program Saves $384 Million, OK’d for Expansion

Medicare’s accountable care organization model has notched sufficient savings to meet the agency’s criteria for expansion to a larger population of beneficiaries.

The Pioneer ACO model, a controversial Medicare program geared to incent doctors and hospitals to improve quality and reduce costs and redundant care, in two years saved more than $300 per year for each of the 600,000 beneficiaries enrolled and is ready to be scaled up, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services officials said Monday.

Pioneer ACO Program Saves $384 Million, OK’d for Expansion


Cancer Centers, Epic to Tap Power of IBM Watson Supercomputer

A supercomputer like IBM’s Watson is needed to be able to analyze the large number of detailed records needed to “develop patient treatment protocols, personalize patient management for chronic conditions, and intelligently assist doctors and nurses by providing relevant evidence from the worldwide body of medical knowledge, putting new insight into the hands of clinical staff.” The key to the success would be able to share and analyze patient-specific data in real time, a part of the standard workflow. This will allow Watson to “bring forth critical evidence from medical literature and case studies that are most relevant to the patient’s care.”

Cancer Centers, Epic to Tap Power of IBM Watson Supercomputer

Epic, Watson at work on interoperability

IBM’s Watson targets cancer and enlists prominent providers in the fight

 


Cleveland Clinic makes analytics available

This is an interesting development. It may be the only way some smaller hospital systems receive any assistance with healthcare analytics.

Cleveland Clinic makes analytics available