Better Medicare For Those With Chronic Disease

The Senate has quietly and unanimously passed a bill that would improve some Medicare benefits for people with chronic disease. The measure would do many good things but the most important is that it would take important steps toward breaking down the wall between medical treatment and non-medical supports and services in Medicare, beginning a process that would make it much easier for frail seniors to receive the right care when they need it.

How to Support Patient Engagement in Pediatric Transitions of Care

When working with young chronic illness patients, Cory Nourie, the transition of care officer at Nemours Children’s Health, always asks patients to describe how they are feeling and the symptoms they experience. What might look like a strategy to determine a treatment is part of a larger effort to begin transitions of care from pediatrics into adult care.

Patients and Doctors Both Agree: Visits are too Short

Just 11% of patients and 14% of primary care physicians report having an adequate amount of time together, according to The Physician Foundation’s 2017 Patient Survey Report. Meanwhile, 9 in 10 said they feel the doctor-patient relationship is the most important factor in a quality healthcare system.

Medicare Advisory Panel Wants to Scrap MIPS

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission wants to scrap the Merit-based Incentive Payment System. During a Thursday morning meeting, almost all of the members of MedPAC said MIPS, the new Medicare payment system for most physicians, should be replaced after MedPAC staff proposed the development of an alternative payment system to replace MIPs.