Cost Analysis/Rate Setting FREE Webinars
Welter Healthcare Partners has partnered with the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Family Planning Program to provide training and technical assistance in cost setting activities to current Title X contractors and clinics. Our training and technical assistance will assist CDPHE and Title X contractors in updating fee schedules, developing sliding fee scales, identifying costs, and negotiating contracts with health plans. This 3 part web-based training series allows agencies to make informed decisions about the costs of doing business.n
Cost Analysis/Rate Setting
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| Part 1: Determining CostnDownload PDFn | Part 2: Volume and ValuenDownload PDFn | Part 3: Putting It All TogethernDownload PDFn |
CTCi group, the center for transformative coaching, is offering two sessions to help management teams and other professionals understand the importance of effective management. These web based sessions are developed in a way to help you and your employees succeed!nnnRead more about each individual program and click the link below each description for more information or to register.nn nn
Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said Monday that value-based healthcare “needs to accelerate dramatically” in the U.S., calling for a range of changes to the healthcare system that he said would provide more tools to give consumers more control over their care.nn“This is no time to be timid — today’s healthcare system is simply not delivering outcomes commensurate with its cost,” said Azar, speaking at the public policy conference for the Federation of American Hospitals in Washington.nnAzar’s speech focused on value-based care, an approach in which doctors and hospitals are reimbursed by private health insurance and the government for how well patients emerge after a medical procedure versus the amount of care provided. That method was also cited by the Obama administration as a priority, and Azar during his speech called out that work, saying that value-based care was “taken seriously by President Barack Obama’s administration as well.”nnHe noted that while policymakers had been discussing such potential changes since the early 2000s, the shift was just getting started and was “still far from reaching its potential.”nnHe laid out areas the Trump administration plans to emphasize, promising to deliver “disruptive” changes in healthcare, including giving consumers more control over their health information, encouraging more transparency from healthcare providers and payers, using experimental models in Medicare and Medicaid, and removing government burdens.nn
Azar stressed the need for patients to better understand what medical care will cost them, citing examples such as knowing the price of a medical procedure or a prescription drug. He also cited examples in which providers spend an extensive amount of time reporting their outcomes, which can limit the amount of time they can deliver care.nn”Our current system may be working for many, but it’s not working for patients and it’s not working for taxpayers,” Azar said.nnAzar was sworn in as secretary five weeks ago and will be speaking at the policy conference for America’s Health Insurance Plans on Wednesday. Chip Kahn, president of the Federation of American Hospitals, called Azar the “perfect pick for the times” in remarks ahead of Azar’s speech.nnHe reiterated his overall priorities Monday were to focus on value-based care, combat the opioid crisis, bring down the cost of prescription drugs and to lower the cost of health insurance for people who do not receive coverage through the government or through work.nn“This administration, and this president, are not interested in incremental steps,” Azar said. “We are unafraid of disrupting existing arrangements simply because they’re backed by powerful special interests.”nnThis 
No is a request for informationnIn all things inter-personal, No means No. In managed care contracting, No is a request for information. In other words, if you have a reasonable request which makes sense, don’t take no for an answer. It may take time, it may take a different approach but stay on it, fight for what you believe in and keep working it until you get the desired result.nn Welter Healthcare Partners does Managed Care Contracting and we do it well. We interpret “no” from the health Plans as a request for Information.nnHealth Care Provider’s IncomenYou have to find ways to “make money while you sleep.” Being a health care provider is a great profession and all the rest of us appreciate your education, experience, skills and talents but in the current fee-for-service world and even most risked based reimbursement models you have to be working to get paid. I don’t care how much you make, it is not enough if you only get paid when you actually are working.n
About R. Todd Welter • MS, CPCnFounder and President of Welter Healthcare Partners
nnAs many of you have been following this story, a new update has been released regarding the Anthem payment cut. Read the latest update below, including quotes from Anthem Executive Vice President and Chief Clinical Officer, Craig Samitt.nn