Quality Improvement
Quality improvement is central to achieving high-value care. Learn how we collaborate with all industry stakeholders to identify and bridge measurement gaps and advance patient care.
What’s on the Horizon for Physician Quality Measurement?
In recognition of National Healthcare Quality Week, we sat down with Avalere expert Nelly Ganesan to discuss upcoming trends and developments for physician quality measurement.
Introducing Avalere’s New Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative to Address Gaps and Barriers to Quality Care in Hospitals
Despite evidence demonstrating the benefits of optimal nutrition for healing and recovery, practice variation continues in hospitals for nutrition screening, assessment, diagnosis, and overall treatment and management of malnourished adults ages 65 and older. In response, Avalere launched the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative (MQII) to support the delivery of high-quality care for older adults. The MQII not only aims to support the use of timely best practices for malnutrition care in the hospital setting but may also reduce costs associated with poor patient outcomes.
New Study Finds that Clinical Pathways Are Being Used to Improve Quality and Control Cost but Concerns Remain
A new white paper from Avalere finds wide variation in how organizations develop and use clinical pathways (CPs)-multidisciplinary plans that provide specific guidance on the sequencing of care steps and the timeline of interventions. While CPs have the potential to improve quality and reduce cost, their growing use prompts a range of questions and concerns from patient advocates and healthcare providers. Specifically, Avalere's new work examines the lifecycle of a CP and explores the potential implications of growing use of these tools for payers, providers, and patients.
Improving Obstacles to Quality Patient Care Increases Medication Adherence and Reduces Avoidable Healthcare Spending
Avalere recently partnered with Third Way to estimate the cost savings of increasing medication adherence among Medicare beneficiaries by improving and expanding the current Part D Medication Therapy Management (MTM) program to target and address adherence issues for specific conditions.
Lack of Quality Measures for Cancers and Other Serious Diseases Limits Medicare’s Ability to Pay for Value
A new Avalere assessment of the quality measures landscape shows that many important medical conditions are not fully represented in Medicare pay-for-quality programs, which limits Medicare's ability to pay for value.
Quality Measures and Cancer Care: What You Should Know
Cancer is a burden to patients and the healthcare system. Last year, an estimated 1.6 million new cancer cases were diagnosed in the U.S and the latest figures estimate that 13.4 million people, about 4 percent of the U.S. population, live with cancer in the U.S.1
Webinar: Patient-Reported Outcomes: Using PROs to Measure Performance in New Payment Models
Achieving a vision of patient-centered healthcare requires multi-stakeholder collaboration each step of the way. As national attention on the use of patient-reported outcomes (PROs) grows, significant progress needs to be made to ensure that they are fairly used for accountability purposes in the context of performance-based payment models.
Recap: Pharmacy Quality Alliance’s February 2015 Quality Forum
Avalere Health led the Pharmacy Quality Alliance's February 2015 Quality Forum Lecture entitled: A Look Ahead at 2015.
Lessons Learned from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts’ Alternative Quality Contract as HHS Explores Different Payment Models
As healthcare leaders and policymakers look to curb spending and improve quality, they should examine models like the Alternative Quality Contract (AQC), according to a new paper by Avalere.
ASCO Prepares to Launch Big Data Cancer Quality Initiative
Avalere published an article this week on ASCO's plan to launch CancerLinQ™.
Dialogue Proceedings: Launching the Malnutrition Quality Improvement Initiative
Despite its notable negative impact on patient outcomes and costs of care, malnutrition is an area that has largely remained unaddressed by national programs and initiatives.
Avalere Health and the CMTP Partner to Advance the Adoption of ERPs After Surgery Across the Country
In 2015, Avalere Health and the Center for Medical Technology Policy will work together to develop the Partnership for Enhanced Recovery to promote broader adoption of proven protocols in the surgical space across a number of US hospitals.
Podcast: Quality Measurement and Its Effect on Consumers
Listen to Avalere's Debbie Lucas explain the complex world of quality measurement.
CMS Finalizes Flat Payment and New Quality Measures for Dialysis Facilities
In the Calendar Year (CY) 2015 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) final rule released on October 31, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a 2015 base per treatment rate of $239.43, up slightly from $239.02 in CY 2014.
Avalere Health Releases Enhanced Recovery White Paper
"On June 10, 2014, the Center for Medical Technology Policy (CMTP) in collaboration with Avalere Health hosted a multi-stakeholder forum in Baltimore, Maryland, to discuss potential challenges and opportunities to accelerate the adoption of enhanced recovery protocols (ERPs) in the U.S.
Podcast: Quality Measurement and Its Effect on Providers
Listen to Debbie Lucas discuss how quality measurement can lead to improvements in the quality of care and the impact on providers.
Podcast: Quality Measurement Is the Foundation for Improving Quality Care
The use of quality and performance measures in public reporting, value-based purchasing, and alternative payment models is altering clinical practice by providing incentives to improve quality measures performance and provide high-value care. Debbie Lucas helps many stakeholders seek to understand these measures, assess their business impacts, and use the information to guide decision-making.
CMS Proposes Flat Payment and New Quality Measures for Dialysis Facilities
In the Calendar Year (CY) 2015 End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD) Prospective Payment System (PPS) proposed rule released on July 2, CMS proposes a 2015 base per treatment rate of $239.33, up slightly from $239.02 in CY 2014.
Poster Presentations for Avalere at AcademyHealth
Avalere’s experts will be presenting several posters at AcademyHealth’s Annual Research Meeting in San Diego.
CMS Physician Compare Website Publishes Quality Data for the First Time
On Feb. 21, CMS enhanced the Physician Compare website to include the addition of quality measures to indicate the performance achieved on a set number of specific metrics.