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The National Association of Accountable Care Organizations (NAACOS) recognized three ACOs with awards at its fall meeting last week. During an Oct. 16 panel session, representatives from the award winners, Bryan Health Connect ACO in Nebraska, Ochsner Accountable Care Network in Louisiana, and TriValley Primary Care in Pennsylvania, discussed some of their accomplishments and lessons learned in accountable care across different lines of business and payers.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken the first steps to implement “ghost network” and pharmacy benefit manager reforms outlined by Congress in its February appropriations package. The proposed rule (PDF) outlines a framework for Medicare Advantage plans to verify and update their provider directories at least once every 90 days, according to a release and fact sheet from the agency.
Vizient quantifies financial loss of ED walkouts
Vizient recently launched a calculator for hospital leaders to estimate financial losses from patients leaving the emergency department before receiving treatment.
The ED throughput opportunity calculator asks for inputs of annual ED volume, a left-before-treatment-completion rate and whether the hospital is one that primarily serves community-based emergency care or is a complex hospital, including an academic, tertiary, high-volume or specialized referral hospital. “The resulting estimate of financial leakage and potential recovery provides a starting point for a broader discussion about ED performance and improvement priorities,” according to Vizient’s website.
AMA Calls for Risk-Based GenAI Oversight to Protect Patients and Support Responsible Innovation
As generative AI moves toward performing increasingly consequential clinical functions, the American Medical Association (AMA) is urging the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to address a foundational question: Who is responsible for ensuring that these tools remain safe once they enter clinical practice? In a letter released last week, AMA CEO and executive vice president Dr. John Whyte responded to the FDA’s request for feedback on the discussion paper published by the agency this August.
Epic launches Connectors to link its AI tools with third-party apps
Epic launched a new capability that lets its artificial intelligence agents access information and perform tasks in third-party applications. Through "Connectors," developers can connect their apps to Epic's AI tools—patient-facing AI assistant Emmie; clinician AI assistant Art and Penny, the company's revenue cycle and operations AI. Connectors will also work with custom AI that healthcare organizations create in Agent Factory, the company announced Wednesday morning ahead of its Open@Epic conference.
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