Keith Blankenship, vice president of technical solutions for Lumeris, spoke with Healthcare Informatics about the importance of integrating EMR and claims/cost data for population health management.

As reimbursement cuts and other payment changes put intensifying pressure on physicians and medical groups, accountable care offers new opportunities for collaboration between payers and providers. In Missouri, Esse Health—a group of about 70 primary care physicians in the St. Louis area—started Essence Healthcare in 2004, an insurer that offers coverage under the Medicare Advantage program, serving more than 40,000 members. Essence Healthcare provides its network of providers a collaborative payer model.

First national aco survey on startup costs 

Government Health IT Article: ACOs Struggle With Data Sharing

Applications for population health management that integrate claims and clinical data can provide the insights essential to the success of accountable care organizations (ACOs), according a new report from IDC Health Insights.

While EMRs provide accountable care organizations (ACOs) with data critical for population health management, additional health IT tools that integrate patient data from multiple sources, support the management of care plans and enable patient communications are required as well, according to a report from Mass.-based research firm IDC Health Insights.

Meeting the goals of accountable care and achieving the associated cost reductions requires a more robust health IT infrastructure than just an electronic health record can provide, says a report by IDC Health Insights. The triple aim of improving the patient experience, improving population health, and slashing system-wide costs can only be realized when healthcare organizations incorporate advanced technology and embrace the principles of value-based healthcare that provides the foundation for accountable care organizations (ACOs).

In order to effectively manage population health, accountable care organizations’ technology needs go far beyond electronic health systems. A recent IDC spotlight has identified the IT systems and technological abilities ACOs need to effectively monitor the health of a population.

It’s hard to go too long these days without hearing someone hype the benefits of big data. It’s to the point where the term is all but a cliché. Hard to believe that’s it’s still a fairly recent coinage.
“Maybe three years ago?” says Cynthia Burghard research director for accountable care IT strategies at IDC Health Insights, when asked when she first heard the now-ubiquitous term. “It’s still relatively new, across all industries. Some industries have used pieces of the big data and analytics technology stack, but not in its entirety.”

A new report from research firm IDC Health Insights examines the information technology needs of accountable care organizations beyond an electronic health records system.