Apple's Deal With the VA is a Big Step Toward Giving Patients Control Over Their own Health Information

Apple announced Monday that it's working with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs to bring health records to the iPhone. That means that vets receiving their care from the VA will be able to see medical information like allergies, immunizations, labs and procedures directly on their iPhones with just a few clicks.

CMS Emergency Transport Model Supports Telehealth, Non-Hospital Venues

CMS is launching a new payment model for ambulance services that aims to lower out-of-pocket costs for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries while assuring appropriate care. The new model — Emergency Triage, Treatment and Transport (ET3) — will pay first responders for care provided onsite via EMS crews or telehealth, as well as unscheduled emergency transport to hospital emergency rooms and alternative sites such as primary care offices and urgent care clinics.

How Can Healthcare Improve Care for High-Need, High-Risk Patients? Just Ask Them

There’s even an acronym for them: HNHC, which stands for those high-need, high-cost patients who it’s estimated make up only 5% of U.S. patients but account for about 50% of healthcare spending. And while lots of studies have focused on how to manage these patients, researchers at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York City decided to take a different approach. They asked the patients themselves how doctors and healthcare systems can best meet their needs and, in the process, cut costs.

Better Health Care for Veterans Requires Better Payment

A recent study highlighted the challenges associated with health care for veterans and the complicating fact that many primary care physicians outside the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) have "great uncertainty" about how best to address these patients' unique needs.