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Monday, May 4, 2020

Is Your Local Health Plan Afraid of You?

Health plans with a dominant local market share face the ongoing strategic challenge of maintaining that position.

Monday, October 12, 2020

Evidence Shows Mitigation Measures Reduce the Spread of COVID-19

On October 6, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published a morbidity and mortality weekly report that contains encouraging news that community mitigation measures were found to be successful in reducing the spread of COVID-19.

Tuesday, May 3, 2022

Establishing a Remote Patient Monitoring Program: 5 Keys to Success

As increasingly efficient technology and patient self-care merge to create better healthcare for all, NextGen Healthcare Advisor Graham Brown spotlights a winning RPM strategy.

Thursday, April 30, 2020

Elective Surgery Set to Resume in States Across the Country

In welcome news for many physicians and patients, states all across the country are announcing plans to resume elective surgeries and procedures.

Friday, September 25, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Are Providers Ready to Take on $1 Trillion in Risk?

In this week's podcast, the NextGen Advisors explore several value-based care and alternative payment models, discussing how the COVID-19 pandemic may serve as an accelerator in the shift to value-based care.

Friday, February 5, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – COVID-19: New Variants and Their Implications

In this podcast, the NextGen Advisors discuss the status of vaccination campaigns, the implications of these new variants on efforts to control the pandemic and how pharmaceutical companies and researchers are responding to this challenge.

Tuesday, July 14, 2020

How Community Health Centers Can Lead the Way in a New Era of Healthcare

The growth of the CHC model has been nothing short of remarkable, today there are nearly 1,400 health centers operating 12,000 service sites.

Friday, January 29, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Medicaid and Healthcare Disparities: Problem or Solution?

Over the past decade, growth in Medicaid enrollment has outpaced all other sectors.

Friday, September 11, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - New Challenges with COVID-19 Testing

PCR is the most widely used diagnostic to test coronavirus providing a simple yes-no answer to the question of whether a patient is infected.

Thursday, September 3, 2020

COVID-19: Does the Quality of the Test Matter?

The pandemic has brought testing to the forefront of healthcare issues. As we hear and see all of the media buzz about the accuracy, reliability, validity, and timeliness of tests for coronavirus, a review of the epidemiological concepts that underlie these discussions can shed some light on the best clinical approach to testing.

Wednesday, July 8, 2020

Could Existing Vaccines Help Curb COVID-19?

With over 11.5 million cases of SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) confirmed worldwide, resulting in 540,000 reported deaths1, researchers are looking to all available tools in the medical toolbox to prevent infections, mitigate the severity of illness and increase the chance of survival for those infected with the novel coronavirus.

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

Congress Considers the Future of Telehealth

The rapid expansion in telehealth services was driven both by the necessity of virtual care during the pandemic and by the temporary relaxing of decades-old regulations. For Congress, the job now is to determine what telehealth laws should look like after the pandemic ends and the temporary waivers subside.

Tuesday, February 23, 2021

The Impact of COVID-19 on Those with Disabilities and Serious Mental Illness

As early as April 6,2020, the New York Times (NYT) published an article revealing early pandemic statistics that showed the death rate for people with Intellectual or developmental disabilities (IDD) who received residential services in New York State (NYS) was double that for the general population.

Friday, November 6, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – How Population Health Risk Algorithms Introduce Racial Bias into Every Day Practice

In this podcast, the Advisors discuss a recent Science magazine article which exposed how commonly used population health algorithms introduce racial bias into many clinical decisions. They review the underlying reasons for these algorithm shortcomings and discuss the ways in which these problems can be mitigated.

Friday, May 29, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - The impact the COVID Pandemic has had on Patients Accessing Routine Care

Hear our experts discuss the impact COVID-19 has had on routine care.

Friday, July 31, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - The Growing Role of Pharmacists in the Practice of the Future

The NextGen Advisors recently published a blog about the growing role of pharmacists in the practice of the future.

Friday, August 28, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Significant Potential Changes in the Proposed CMS 2021 Fee Schedule

In this episode, the NextGen® Advisors are joined by government affairs advisor, Chris Emper to discuss the potential game-changing impact of CMS’s proposed 2021 Physician Fee Schedule.

Friday, August 21, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Should Medical Students Be Involved in COVID-19 Response?

In this episode, the NextGen® Advisors discuss a recent article from Annals of Internal Medicine on the role of medical students during the COVID pandemic and the recommendation by the American Association of Medical Colleges.

Friday, June 5, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Episode 7: Insights from Providers on the Future of the Ambulatory Practice

This week’s podcast hosted by NextGen Healthcare’s CMO Dr. Betty Rabinowitz explores insights from recent discussions and polling conducted by NextGen® Advisors with leaders from large ambulatory practices across the United States.

Friday, June 26, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - How Virtual Visits are Changing Care Team Roles

With the sudden emergence of virtual visits and the associated challenges, the NextGen Advisors continue to explore topics relevant to ambulatory care.

Friday, October 2, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast - Could Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) Serve as Utilities?

A recent HIMSS article argues that HIEs have proven to be a critically important public health tool in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, but in order to achieve their full potential, they need to be converted to state designated utilities.

Friday, April 16, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: Community Health Centers Awarded Record $6.1 Billion in Federal Grant Funding

The Biden administration recently announced $6.1 billion in supplemental funding grants to the nation’s federally qualified community health centers (FQHCs).

Wednesday, June 10, 2020

How to Manage Risk in Value-Based Contracts

As providers turn their attention to commercial contracts, they would be well advised to pursue opportunities to manage risk during these particularly uncertain times. Following are some approaches to consider.

Tuesday, March 30, 2021

Delivering Whole Person Care: Avoiding the Pitfalls of Integrating Primary Care into Community-Based Mental Health Centers

Many behavioral health practices are considering adding primary care services in order to better address these whole person healthcare needs. In the NextGen® Advisors’ conversations with behavioral health and physician groups across the country, we find several challenges that groups are universally grappling with.

Monday, August 24, 2020

Integrated Care – How Did Care Ever Get Separated in the First Place? – A Historical Review

Read about the theoretical underpinning of modern-day integrated care.

Monday, August 31, 2020

Integrated Care – Coming of Age After 300 Years... Part II of II

A recent original research article and editorial in the Annals of Internal Medicine addresses the factors influencing physician practices adoption of behavioral health integration in the United States.

Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Innovation Accelerates COVID-19 Research

In the race to develop effective treatments for patients infected with COVID-19, researchers are employing an innovative study design to evaluate the clinical efficacy, as assessed by time to recovery, of multiple different investigational therapeutics.

Friday, May 8, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – The Impact of Legislative and Regulatory Changes from COVID-19

The Impact of Legislative and Regulatory Changes from COVID-19

Friday, March 20, 2020

Deploying a Video Visit Strategy to Mitigate the Spread of Coronavirus

In response to the rapid spread of COVID-19 across the United States, many ambulatory practices are recognizing video visits as a crucial method to protect health care providers and patients and to flatten the curve of community infection.

Monday, June 22, 2020

How to Reduce Healthcare Disparities in the U.S.

Those of us in healthcare understand that the pandemic represents just one more example of the disproportionate negative impact of health issues on people of color.

Tuesday, May 5, 2020

Measuring Patient Reported Outcomes-Measuring What Matters

In a recent blog, we called for a shift in the way we measure quality in healthcare post COVID-19. Measurement of patient reported outcomes has long been regarded as a worthy substitute for most, if not all the quality measures that providers are required to report on.

Thursday, December 3, 2020

2100 Pages for 2021: Key Takeaways from CMS's New Physician Payment Rules

On December 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) officially released its annual Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule for 2021. The rule updates payment policies and quality programs under Medicare’s Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) starting January 1, 2021.

Friday, March 26, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: Ethical and professional implications of physician employment and health care business practices

Today's podcast explores the shift to value-based care and physician employment models and looks at how providers balance ethical principles and professional values about the patient-physician relationship.

Friday, May 14, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Does the COVID-19 Pandemic Help Us See the Future of Vision Services?

This week the NextGen Advisors discuss the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on ophthalmology and its allied fields, what they've learned in the past year, and what it means for the future of vision services.

Tuesday, December 15, 2020

Five Reasons Health Plans Make Payment Errors

When the health plan says a claim is lost or they send an incorrect payment, providers often feel like victims of an evil plot. In trying to decipher health plan motives, it may be helpful to consider the scale and complexity of their operations.

Monday, February 22, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Finding the Silver Linings from the COVID-19 Pandemic

The COVID-19 pandemic discussion has often covered the implications and impact of this devastating pandemic.

Friday, May 7, 2021

NextGen Advisors - Poll Results Confirm Patients' Demand for Telehealth and Online Healthcare Solutions

Recently, NextGen Healthcare commissioned Harris Poll to conduct an online Connected Healthcare Study among 2,055 adults ages 18+.

Friday, December 18, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Mental Health Needs of Healthcare Workers During COVID-19

Recent emergency use authorization of vaccines offer a light of hope to people around the globe as the phase of mass inoculation campaigns begin. Meanwhile, the COVID-19 pandemic continues to strain the resources of healthcare systems and puts thousands of frontline workers at risk under incredibly stressful, exhausting and disruptive circumstances.

Friday, September 18, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Mental Health, Depression and Suicide in the Face of the COVID-19 Pandemic

NextGen Advisors focus their discussion on mental health issues, and particularly depression, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday, September 30, 2020

Provider Engagement Critical to Success in Population Health

In a recent annual survey conducted by Numerof & Associates, in partnership with Dr. David Nash of the Jefferson College of Population Health, several clear examples of success, or barriers to success, highlight the critical role which provider engagement plays in an organization’s ability to manage cost and quality.

Monday, July 13, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Walgreens to open up to 500 full service doctors offices, what impact could this have for ambulatory practices?

On this episode, NextGen Advisors discuss the potential impact this disruptive development may have on primary care, FQHCs, and patient-provider relationships. Tune in now to listen.

Wednesday, January 6, 2021

A National Patient Identifier Would Have Made Vaccinating the Entire U.S. Population Much Easier

Developing the COVID-19 vaccine was the first monumental milestone on a long and arduous journey to achieving vaccination of the entire U.S. population.

Thursday, February 11, 2021

How Will We Address New COVID-19 Variants?

Just as the global vaccination campaign is ramping up, with healthcare providers and state agencies wrestling with the complexity of inoculating millions of citizens, new variants of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus are being identified by researchers which may require vaccine developers to update their vaccines periodically.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

HHS Awards Record $3 Billion to Behavioral Health Grant Programs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that it was distributing $3 billion in block grant funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Tuesday, June 22, 2021

HHS Awards Record $3 Billion to Behavioral Health Grant Programs

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) announced that it was distributing $3 billion in block grant funds authorized by the American Rescue Plan Act.

Monday, June 29, 2020

Healthcare is Making Progress on the “Social” in the Biopsychosocial Model

The biopsychosocial approach systematically considers biological, psychological, and social factors and their complex interactions in understanding health, illness, and healthcare delivery.

Tuesday, June 8, 2021

Men's Mental Health: We Treat Just the Tip of the Iceberg

June is men’s health month and this year as we emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic, more than ever there is a compelling need to focus on male patients’ overall health with emphasis on their mental health as a key to their wellbeing.

Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Staffing the Post-COVID-19 Doctor's Office

In conversations with thought leaders across the country, many have used phrases like, healthcare will not return to the way it was before COVID-19 and, Nothing will be the same after the pandemic.

Thursday, May 14, 2020

Scientific Method: The Key to Conquering COVID-19

As those of us with medical backgrounds are bombarded with questions and opinions from patients, family and friends, let’s take a moment to reflect on how advances in medicine actually occur.

Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Keys to Sustainable Telehealth Post COVID-19

As we've listened to providers describe their reactions to this pandemic, telehealth continues to be a pervasive theme at the foundation of their response.

Monday, June 8, 2020

CMS Reaffirms Commitment to Value-based Payment Models by Adding COVID-19 Flexibilities

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the transition to value-based reimbursement via alternative payment models (APMs) was a top priority of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and its Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

Friday, April 24, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Launch New Podcast First Episode - Discussion of Post COVID-19 Quality Metrics

The NextGen Advisors have launched a new podcast resource to address different topical subjects related to ambulatory care, exploring the successes and challenges that community providers experience from an operations, policy and strategy perspective.

Friday, April 17, 2020

Post-COVID-19 Contracting - a Lot to Think About

As provider groups approach contracting with Medicare for a value-based option, they have some choices, but no real opportunity to negotiate. Fortunately, with commercial payers, that's not the case.

Tuesday, April 21, 2020

Medicare Expands Telehealth Services to Community Health Centers Under CARES Act

As required by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, on April 17, 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued new guidance authorizing community health centers to furnish telehealth services to Medicare beneficiaries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Wednesday, May 6, 2020

Our Doors Will Re-Open, But When Will the Patients Return?

Across the United States, community by community, businesses are making plans to re-open their doors to their customers.

Wednesday, May 12, 2021

How FQHCs Can Use the American Rescue Plan Act Funds to Invest in the Future

The May 31st deadline by which Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) must submit plans to the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) for how they plan to invest their share of the once in a generation $6.1B of supplemental federal grant funding is fast approaching.

Thursday, September 17, 2020

Four Ways to Adapt Preventive Care During COVID-19

Four strategies ambulatory practices have been deploying to ensure they continue to meet the needs of their patients for preventive care and chronic condition management.

Tuesday, September 22, 2020

Five Fundamentals for Effective Care

In our continuing exploration of innovative models of care, in this blog we will examine the efforts of the Cambridge Health Alliance(CHA) to advance primary care in the context of a diverse and vulnerable urban population.

Tuesday, December 8, 2020

Vaccinating the Entire U.S Population -- Health Information Technologies are Positioned to Help

As several viable highly effective vaccines have been developed at record speed, we will now be called to meet the next challenge of vaccinating the entire nation. In this blog, we investigate what role health information technologies play in the success of this endeavor.

Monday, October 5, 2020

Filling the Cavity Between Dentistry and Medicine

Dentistry has a long and storied history. In Pakistan, evidence was found of a flint crafted drill to treat tooth decay dating back 7,000 years. Today’s challenge is to understand how and why this ancient skill separated from medicine, and what can be done to fill that “cavity”.

Monday, July 20, 2020

Where is the Value in Value-Based Care?

With all the focus on value-based care it’s interesting that there is no single definition of value. In trying to reduce the definition for healthcare to a formula there is general agreement that the denominator of value is cost.

Wednesday, January 20, 2021

President Biden's Healthcare Policy Agenda

This week, as Joe Biden takes the oath of office to become the 46th President of the United States, many in the healthcare industry are wondering what impact the new President will have on the pandemic and broader healthcare reform initiatives.

Monday, March 23, 2020

Have We Prematurely Reassured Younger Americans about their Risks from COVID-19?

To the surprise of many, as of March 16, 2020, 40% of patients hospitalized for Coronavirus in the U.S. have been younger adults.

Friday, March 20, 2020

N95 vs. Regular Surgical Masks – Distinction Without a Difference?

CDC updated its recommendations for health care providers regarding the use of masks in the context of known or suspected COVID-19.

Friday, April 3, 2020

New Forgivable SBA Loan Program Launches Today and Many Physician Practices are Likely Eligible

Through a mix of increased reimbursements, advanced payments, targeted grants, and a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) emergency fund, the new Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provides $150 billion of financial assistance for the healthcare sector.

Thursday, November 3, 2022

Ambulatory Medicine Today: Focus on What You Can Control

Using the latest technology, practices today have opportunities to address staffing shortages, meet patient demands for convenience, and compete more effectively against large healthcare systems. Following NextGen Healthcare’s recent Cures Act certification for its EHR software for small practices, the company’s Chief Medical Officer, Dr. Robert Murry, spotlights some practicable insights .

Monday, April 6, 2020

Crisis at the Doctor's Office

Practice owners and administrators face difficult questions and must make painful decisions: How much cash do we have on hand? How fast can we get a business loan? Do we need to furlough or lay off employees?

Tuesday, July 27, 2021

CMS Releases Proposed 2022 Medicare Physician Payment Policies

On July 13, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its annual rule proposing updates to its payment system for physicians in Medicare. NextGen Advisor Chris Emper reviews some of the key elements and proposals.

Wednesday, July 6, 2022

The Claims Data Dilemma: 4 Things to Consider

In providers' ongoing struggle to obtain timely, essential claims data, NextGen Healthcare Advisor Dr. Martin Lustick underscores the obstacles and opportunities.

Tuesday, July 13, 2021

The Future of General Internal Medicine is Bright

NextGen Advisor Dr. Betty Rabinowitz details why there is reason for optimism about the future of internal medicine based on several recent trends.

Friday, December 4, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – Challenges in the Development, Production and Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines

During the podcast, Dr. Vesper discusses some of the unique attributes of the vaccines, as well as the challenges that we will face as we get closer to production and distribution.

Monday, January 11, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Bidding farewell to 2020: Healthcare predictions for 2021

NextGen Advisors discuss predictions for the healthcare landscape in 2021

Tuesday, January 26, 2021

Three Ways a Health Plan Can Help Providers

Just as providers have reimagined their clinical and business models in light of the pandemic, there is an opportunity to reimagine their relationship with health plans.

Tuesday, July 20, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: FDA Approves Alzheimer’s Treatment, Controversy Ensues

In this episode of the NextGen Advisors podcast, Graham Brown and Dr. Betty Rabinowitz discuss the drug’s approval and the concerns, hopes and implications it has raised.

Thursday, October 6, 2022

What You Need to Know About the October 6 Information Blocking Deadline

NextGen Advisor Chris Emper and regulatory expert Andy Riedel dig into the weeds of recent Cures Act updates that can be confusing even to the most tech-savvy providers.

Friday, April 2, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast - Integration of Behavioral and Physical Health: Provider Perspectives

Recently, NextGen Healthcare partnered with XtelligentMedia to conduct a national survey of provider organizations who offer behavioral health and primary care services. Listen here as the NextGen® Advisors reflect on provider reported experiences and challenges in the journey to whole person care.

Tuesday, October 27, 2020

Are Big Changes Coming for Value-based Payment Models?

In September, CMS finalized a new mandatory value-based payment model for patients with kidney disease and a new mandatory value-based payment model for cancer patients receiving radiotherapy treatment. Rather than voluntary models that offer healthcare providers the option to participate, these models require mandatory participation for a select group of providers.

Friday, May 1, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast - A Post COVID Practice

In this week’s podcast, Nextgen Advisors build on their April 29th blog, ”A Strategy Pivot for COVID-19?”, discussing the longer term implications of the COVID-19 pandemic for practices.

Friday, July 17, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast- When Two Epidemics Collide: COVID-19's Impact on the Opioid Crisis

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the opioid epidemic was exacting a phenomenal toll on U.S. citizens. Several recent articles in the Annals of Internal Medicine have highlighted the significant problem resulting from the collision of these two epidemics.

Tuesday, October 13, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast: Provider Incentive Programs - Pros and Cons

Health plans employ a variety of incentive programs in an attempt to influence provider behavior.

Friday, July 24, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - How Community Health Centers Can Lead the Way in a New Era of Healthcare

In this episode, the NextGen Advisors discuss key takeaways from a recent webinar with leaders from various community health centers across the U.S.

Friday, October 23, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Building bridges between dentistry and medicine to optimize patient outcomes

In this episode, NextGen Advisor Dr. Martin Lustick speaks with NextGen Healthcare’s oral health experts, Carlos Vallecillo and Brian Peterson about the division between oral health (dentistry) and medical health and how these healthcare services can become more integrated through technology and business practices.

Friday, June 25, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: How Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers are Leading the Integration of Whole Person Care

In this podcast episode, NextGen Advisors Graham Brown and Dr. Marty Lustick speak with Government Affairs Advisor Chris Emper about the important role played by Certified Community Behavioral Health Centers and detail recently announced grant programs from Health and Human Services to advance the integration of these programs at the community level.

Tuesday, March 2, 2021

COVID-19: Herd Immunity, Vaccines, And A Return To Normalcy

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the term herd immunity has become a household term, engendering intense hope and anticipation.

Wednesday, November 18, 2020

Open Notes are Here to Stay

It’s been ten short years since the “OpenNotes” experiment was launched in three major hospital systems in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Washington. That pilot began with 105 Primary Care Providers (PCPs) and about 13,000 patients.

Thursday, October 21, 2021

The Whole Person Care Model Is Seeing its Day in the Sun

In this blog, Dr. Betty Robinowitz explores whole person care model, which is known to improve patient outcomes, reduces costs, increase patient satisfaction, and is associated with less provider- and care-team burnout.

Friday, May 21, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast - The Untapped Value of Adjudicated Claims Analytics

There is growing interest in the use of multi-sourced data analytics to support practice’s success in value-based contracts, particularly the use of adjudicated insurance claims.

Wednesday, April 8, 2020

Organizational Resilience in the Midst of a Pandemic

In a matter of weeks, practices have been thrust into a new reality that has required significant shifts in the way care is delivered and the business of health care is conducted.

Thursday, July 16, 2020

2020 Mid-Year Regulatory Update: Key Issues to Watch

With the healthcare industry at the center of many of these changes, tracking new regulations has never been more important for physician practices. As we look ahead to the second half of the year with CMS’s annual rulemaking cycle and the 2020 elections still to come, there are no signs of the pace of change slowing down.

Tuesday, February 16, 2021

Community Health Center COVID-19 Vaccine Program Starts this Week

This week, the federal government will begin allocating COVID-19 vaccines directly to select Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) across the country. The move follows an official announcement last week from President Biden and members of his COVID-19 response task force.

Wednesday, July 1, 2020

CMS Creates New Office Focused on Reducing Provider Burden

While it remains unclear what impact the creation of this new office will have, it clearly signals that reducing provider burden is one of agency’s top policy and political priorities.

Friday, March 20, 2020

When a Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

As the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic rapidly evolves, we are being bombarded with information regarding the disease and its spread across the globe.

Monday, March 15, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast: Challenges in Tracking Vaccinations and new CDC Guidelines for the Vaccinated

In this episode of the NextGen® Advisors podcast, the Advisors discuss challenges in tracking who has been vaccinated and highlight some of the new guidance released this week from the Centers for Disease Control for those who have been vaccinated.

Friday, April 9, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: COVID-19 Vaccination Programs: Lessons from Countries Outside the U.S.

The NextGen® Advisors explore the foundations of success in Israel and the United Kingdom’s coronavirus vaccination programs, and identify the obstacles faced by Canada and the European Union which have prevented them from achieving similar results.

Friday, April 23, 2021

NextGen® Advisor Podcast - Is Violence as Viral as COVID-19?

With so much reported violence on the news, in this week’s podcast the NextGen Advisors discuss a public health perspective on this issue.

Wednesday, October 14, 2020

Rationale and Requirements for Clinical Integration

Well before the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, providers have been joining together in an effort to better manage the care of a specific patient population by setting up a clinically integrated network, or CIN.

Friday, October 16, 2020

NextGen Advisors Podcast - Coronavirus and the Flu, Can We Cope with Both?

In this podcast, the Advisors discuss the impact of the ongoing pandemic overlapping with flu season.

Monday, July 27, 2020

The Growing Role of Pharmacists in the Practice of the Future

Considering the significant percent of Americans taking medications, many as part of complex regimens, it is not surprising that the estimated annual cost of drug-related morbidity and mortality resulting from nonoptimized medication therapy is $528.4 billion, which is equivalent to 16 percent of total U.S. health care expenditures in 2016.

Wednesday, March 10, 2021

Travel Pass Solutions in the Era of COVID-19

It has been a little over a year since the initial identification of SARS Cov-2. As the virus spread globally, national governments developed a broad assortment of travel restrictions, border closures, limitations on the transportation of goods and other efforts to contain the virus’s spread.

Tuesday, April 20, 2021

Transgender Type 1 Diabetes: The Oneness of Mind & Body?

In the face of genetically engineered therapies for many cancers and the incredibly rapid development of effective vaccines for COVID-19, it’s easy to lose sight of the breadth and depth of unsolved puzzles in medical science. Many of these remaining mysteries may be at least partially resolved as we overcome the mind/body dichotomy.

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

The Expanding the Role of Specialists in Value-Based Care

Value-based care has become a buzzword over the past decade with early experiments in Massachusetts followed by the creation of Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) as part of the Affordable Care Act. As commercial insurers jumped onto this bandwagon, most providers became familiar with the concepts of gainsharing, upside and downside risk, and bundled payments.

Tuesday, June 7, 2022

The "Wonder Years" of Healthcare

NextGen Healthcare Advisor Dr. Martin Lustick gives us a sweeping—and informative!—overview of 60 years of "interoperability."

Monday, May 18, 2020

May is Mental Health Month – Every Month Should Be Mental Health Month

The burden of mental illness in the U.S. is among the highest of all diseases.

Tuesday, January 25, 2022

TEFCA Is Here! What Does It Mean for Providers and Patients?

TEFCA is the latest buzzword in healthcare. What are the next steps for this legislative landmark?

Thursday, January 27, 2022

The Physician’s Guide to HHS’s New Surprise Billing Rules

In this blog, our legislative expert, Chris Emper, lays out a rule-by-rule manual for navigating the new surprise billing regulations.

Tuesday, May 18, 2021

What ACOs can expect from the Biden Administration

Much of the healthcare industry's attention during the first few months of Joe Biden's Presidency has rightfully been focused on how his Administration and the new Democratic-led Congress have responded to the COVID-19 pandemic. Naturally, this has somewhat limited the focus on other key issues, including the future of value-based care and alternative payment models.

Wednesday, August 12, 2020

What is Patient Engagement? Depends Who You Ask

Patient engagement is a broad term that has multiple connotations. Speak with a care team member, a nurse, care manager or physician about patient engagement and they will likely be referring to a broader concept that combines patient activation with interventions designed to promote positive patient behavior, such as obtaining preventive care or adhering to a medication regimen.

Thursday, March 16, 2023

How to Turn Down the Noise in Healthcare

Health IT has become a kind of background noise in ambulatory care, one that is often annoying and disruptive. What happened? What can we do about it?

Tuesday, June 15, 2021

Considerations Regarding Hospital Affiliation for Multispecialty Group Practices

NextGen Advisor Graham Brown, MPH, explores the pros and cons of hospital affiliation among multispecialty practices (MPH).

Tuesday, February 8, 2022

The Resurgence of the Small Practice

Who says small physician practices are a thing of the past? NextGen Advisor Dr. Martin Lustick points to signs of life in the healthcare universe.

Monday, November 22, 2021

To V or not to V? That Is the Question

This blog by Dr. Martin Lustick talks about the scientific history behind the COVID-19 vaccines and the continuing vaccine hesitancy.

Tuesday, November 3, 2020

Racial Bias-The Unintended Consequences of Population Health Algorithms

The results of a 2019 research article in the journal Science uncovered significant racial bias in commonly used population health algorithms used to identify and assign care to patients with complex, active health needs.

Thursday, August 20, 2020

Get the Most Out of Your Healthcare Consulting Engagement, Part III Ensuring Success After the Engagement

In our final blog in this series, we address how organizations can ensure the successful adoption of recommendations once the consulting engagement has concluded.

Wednesday, May 20, 2020

Capturing Pent-up Demand for Healthcare

As practices around the country begin filling their schedules again, now is a grand opportunity for patient outreach targeted to those individuals who may be hesitant to seek care and for whom a face-to-face encounter is appropriate.

Wednesday, March 24, 2021

The Impact of COVID-19 on Other Health Conditions

Several studies, looking at the secondary health implications of the pandemic, give us an inkling of how broad and deep its impact has been.

Friday, February 26, 2021

NextGen® Advisors Podcast: COVID-19 and Herd Immunity – Are We Almost There?

The NextGen® Advisors delve into the concept of herd immunity and its implications for getting us to a new normal.

Friday, March 19, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: COVID-19 Vaccination Programs: Lessons from Countries Outside the U.S.

This week’s podcast is devoted to a conversation with NextGen® Advisor, Chris Emper about the $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid bill that was just passed into law.

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

Behavioral Health Providers Face Challenges in Value-Based Care

Value-based care continues to be a popular expression across the health care landscape, but the challenges and opportunities it offers are quite different across specialties. As NextGen Advisor Dr. Martin Lustick explores in this blog post, behavioral health providers are an important case in point.

Monday, August 17, 2020

Back to the Future with the Comprehensive Care Physician

In our August 3rd blog we introduced various alternative models of care as a window into potential visions of the future. In this blog, we explore one of those models, the Comprehensive Care Physician (CCP) in greater detail.

Tuesday, May 4, 2021

Survey Reveals How Patients Really Feel About Virtual Care and Electronic Patient Engagement

Recently, NextGen Healthcare commissioned Harris Poll to conduct an online Connected Healthcare Study among 2,055 adults ages 18+. The survey was conducted within the United States between March 25 -29, 2021. The survey focused on individuals who had interacted with the healthcare system in the last year.

Wednesday, June 3, 2020

Can This Problem be Handled Virtually or Should the Patient be Seen in Person?

The COVID-19 pandemic fueled an unprecedented surge in the use of telehealth visits. It is estimated that 200 million telehealth visits will be conducted by the end of 2020.

Wednesday, October 27, 2021

A Focus on Prevention - Breast Cancer Awareness, Mental Health, and COVID-19 Booster Shot

In this podcast episode, NextGen Advisors discuss national breast cancer awareness month and national depression and mental health screening month, as well as developments at the FDA regarding COVID-19 booster shots.

Tuesday, October 20, 2020

The Self-Insured Healthcare Market – What You Don’t Know Can Hurt You

According to a 2009 CDC report, in the 1990s there were approximately 175 million Americans covered by commercial insurance with about 40 percent (70 million) in self-insured plans. Compare that to a 2019 report showing that commercial coverage was down to 154 million, but the number of people participating in self-insured plans had increased to 92 million, constituting 60 percent of the commercial total.

Monday, July 6, 2020

How to Integrate Social Services with Healthcare – an Evolving Story

Today we will explore the challenges of implementing effective interventions for SDoH.

Wednesday, October 13, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast: Health Information Technology and Patient Engagement – Making it Work for Consumers and Providers

In this podcast, the NextGen Advisors discuss the role of Health Information Technology (HIT) in supporting patient engagement.

Monday, March 7, 2022

Three Ways Interoperability Will Improve Healthcare

To mark NextGen Healthcare's new Cures Act certification, Dr. Martin Lustick looks at the substance behind healthcare's latest buzzword: interoperability.

Tuesday, September 29, 2020

Will COVID-19 Jump Start the Lagging Transition to Risk Based Payment Models?

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last year that they want to have 100 percent of providers taking on some downside financial risk by 2025. This will result in $1 trillion of healthcare risk shifting from the government to hospitals, health systems, and physician practices across the United States.

Monday, June 1, 2020

The Payer Landscape

“Health plan” is a generic term that refers to any organization that provides coverage for healthcare expenses. Examination of the historical context will elucidate the important distinctions between an insurance company and an MCO.

Monday, March 8, 2021

NextGen Podcast - Review of the Harvard University Football Players Health Study with guest speaker Jo Ann Pugh RN

Joann Pugh, the founder and president of 50 yard line mom joins us to discuss the Harvard University Football Players Health study.

Thursday, January 13, 2022

The COVID-19 Pandemic: Shining a Light on our Better Angels

This blog by Dr. Martin Lustick takes a look at the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic from the point of view of how the role of scientific discovery can be a sometimes messy but, in the case of the current pandemic, an ultimately triumphant endeavor.

Wednesday, August 5, 2020

Get the Most Out of Your Healthcare Consulting Engagement, Part II - Factors: That Influence the Success of an Active Project

In this second of three related articles, we explore the factors that can influence the outcome of an active project and identify the cadence of a typical engagement to highlight opportunities for alignment and success.

Friday, January 22, 2021

NextGen Advisors Podcast - The Biden Administration's Impact on Healthcare

In this week's podcast, NextGen's government policy expert, Chris Emper, joins the conversation to discuss the likely impacts of the Biden administration and the new Congress on the healthcare landscape.

Tuesday, April 13, 2021

Community Health Centers Awarded Record $6.1 Billion in Federal Grant Funding

The HHS’s Health Resources & Services Administration will award billions in grants to federally qualified community health centers.

Friday, December 11, 2020

NextGen® Advisors Podcast – How 2020 has Impacted Provider Strategies

Last week the NextGen Advisors and Executives met with healthcare leaders from provider groups across the country to hear about their strategic priorities, concerns and hopes for the future.

Thursday, November 11, 2021

Primary Care Takes Center Stage in the Evolution of Care

In this week’s episode of the NextGen Advisor Podcast, Dr. Betty Rabinowitz, Graham Brown, and Dr. Martin Lustick discuss how primary care has been the foundation supporting the entire American healthcare system.

Wednesday, October 7, 2020

Congress Unlikely to Pass Coronavirus Relief Bill Pre-Election

Last month, Congress returned to Washington, D.C. from its August recess with the hopes of quickly passing key government funding and coronavirus relief bills prior to any October electoral surprises.