Author: eric
“The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services is providing up to $30 million in grant funding to develop partnerships with health systems, clinicians and others to improve measures in the quality payment program of MACRA. CMS will provide funding and technical assistance in these cooperative agreements to address measure gaps. Focusing on patient perspectives will ensure measures focus on what is important to patients and drive the improvement of patient outcomes, CMS said.
HealthAxis Group to exhibit at TIPAAA 23rd Annual National Meeting
HealthAxis Group to exhibit at The Independent Physician Association of America’s 23rd Annual National Meeting
Location: Harrah’s Hotel & Casino, New Orleans, LA
From Date: March 28, 2018 To: March 30, 2018
HealthAxis Group will be exhibiting at TIPAAA’s 23rd Annual National Meeting at Harrah’s Hotel & Casino in New Orleans, LA March 28-30, 2018, booth #43. We will be showcasing our core stack technology platform including our Core Benefit Administration System and Web-Based Self-Service Portals as well as providing further information on our EHR/PM and Provider Solutions. For more information on our suite of solutions please contact us at 1-(888) 974-2947 (AXIS) or email info@healthaxis.com.
For more information and to register, visit: https://www.tipaaa.com/
About HealthAxis Group, LLC
Through its affiliated companies, HealthAxis Group provides outstanding information technology and service solutions that help payers and providers work more efficiently and collaborate to deliver better health with improved efficiency and lower costs. HealthAxis Group helps healthcare organizations address compliance; improve administrative efficiency; lower cost, and improve quality and delivery of care. Payer solutions include benefits administration platforms, web portals, network & application management, consulting, BPO, and transaction services. Provider offerings include practice management solutions, electronic medical records, and technology services that help providers operate more efficiently and effectively.
Media contacts: HealthAxis Group, info@healthaxis.com
A Healthy Start to the Plan Year Begins With Quality Medicare Advantage Enrollment Processes
For individuals who have Medicare, they have recently had the opportunity to enroll in a 2018 Medicare Advantage or other Medicare plan, review their current coverage, or change plans. Health plans across the country are evaluating their successes and opportunities for improvement from the recently closed Open Enrollment Period.
Every year, health plans wrestle with timely, accurate enrollment and compliant submission to CMS. Setbacks and headaches here are felt keenly, as it is the first opportunity for plans to succeed or fail relative to the Medicare Star rating system for the new plan year, and clean enrollment has a ripple effect through the entire plan year. Reflecting on any technical challenges you may have experienced, now would be the best time to make any changes necessary to avoid those issues that may affect your star rating.
This is where the HealthAxis Group’s integrated Member/Enrollment portal becomes the easy choice for Health Plans regarding Medicare enrollment. The Member/Enrollment portal has the convenience and capabilities that make for an easily maintained and fully customizable interface. The ease of use and full customization makes this solution perfect for health plans to manage members and keep enrollment logistics smooth.
HealthAxis Group’s Member/Enrollment portal is flexible as well as functional, allowing for easy integration with existing health plan portals, including back-end benefits platforms, making it unique to your organization or plan. HealthAxis follows strict protocols when transferring data files to and from CMS, through its Connect:Direct application. Connect:Direct securely transfers large files between the applications within an enterprise and with external business partners. And, because HealthAxis has a direct Connect:Direct agreement with CMS, it does not use any third party, giving both members and their Health Plan the highest level of security.
Some of the key benefits of the HealthAxis Group Member/Enrollment portal include:
- 24/7 access to real-time information
- Reduced phone calls & paper transactions
- Simple, easy-to-use Interface
- Secure Member login
This just scratches the surface of what HealthAxis Group can do to make your life easier with our Member/Enrollment portal. If you would like more detailed information, contact us to set up a complimentary demo of how our solutions will work for you!
Reducing healthcare costs not one-size-fits-all, report finds
A new Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) report that reviewed healthcare costs for five states found huge differences concerning costs and drivers.
“The NRHI said bringing the higher than average cost states (Colorado and Minnesota) down to the average could potentially save more than $1 billion. The researchers added that the healthcare industry needs to address both price and utilization to make healthcare more affordable. There’s not a one-size-fits-all approach to reducing costs either. For instance, one region may have higher utilization. In that case, engaging physicians to consider their referral patterns or use of tests and procedures could be a way to reduce costs. However, if the costs are driven by high prices, purchasers or policymakers will need to become part of strategies to bring down costs.” Read the full article.
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Biggest Health IT wins for new spending bill
HIMSS Senior Director of Congressional Affairs broke down how the massive spending bill will boost telehealth, Medicaid and other crucial health IT needs.
“Congressional leaders passed the spending bill last night, after a 5-hour government shutdown. Senate passed the spending bill around 1:45 a.m. with a 71-28 vote, while the House pushed through the legislation at about 5:30 this morning with a 240-186 vote. One of the biggest gains from the budget was the inclusion of the CHRONIC Care Act, which unanimously passed the Senate in September. HIMSS provided technical feedback on for developing the bill, which Burch said is aimed at modernizing Medicare to streamline care coordination and improve outcomes. Not only will the bill expand telehealth to Medicare beneficiaries, it will also generate patient data on those beneficiaries.” Read the full article.
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5 trends in Healthcare Analytics for 2018
In a recent white paper, Tableau outlines significant trends in healthcare analytics for 2018.
“Leaders of The demand for higher quality care at lower cost, among other trends, will drive the use of healthcare information technology in general and analytics applications in particular this year. Growth efforts to engage patients and better manage patient populations also are expected to drive the need to capture data and gain insight from it. According to Tableau, as a result 2018 reveals the pent up demand for better healthcare IT and analytics that drive higher efficiencies in strategic planning, improved human resources, and advancement of clinical quality and safety,” Read the full article.
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Payers, Providers Pledge to Improve Prior Authorizations
AHIP, BCBSA, AHA, and other organizations have agreed to improve the efficiency of prior authorizations.
“Leaders of organizations participating in the pledge claim that aligning goals to improve prior authorizations can reduce the challenges of payers, providers, and other healthcare organizations face when managing high-cost prescriptions and medical devices. “Prior authorization approvals can be burdensome for health care professionals, hospitals, health insurance providers, and patients because the processes vary and can be repetitive, AHIP said in a press release. Prior authorization requirements can be better targeted if they take into account provider performance measures, the organizations noted.” Read the full article.
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AI funding exceeds $1B in 2017
Report confirms what industry watchers have already been noticing: Artificial intelligence in healthcare is hot.
“The quality and reliability of the data feeding AI solutions is particularly crucial to AI’s ultimate value in healthcare, and that could be a problem given lack of clear data standards. Progress on interoperability has been slow, but CMS Administrator Seema Verma said in town hall webcast this week with American Hospital Association CEO and President Rick Pollack that the agency is interested in seeing movement on the issue.” Read the full article.
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CMS MBI Notification
Client Notification
Date: February 15, 2018
Topic: MBI
Purpose: The following notification is to inform our Medicare Health Plan clients that HealthAxis Group is following CMS protocols and will be fully compliant with the project to receive & store the new MBI number that will be assigned to Medicare members.
CMS Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI)
The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 mandates the removal of the Social Security Number (SSN)-based HICN from Medicare cards to address current risk of beneficiary medical identity theft. Therefore, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is required to remove Social Security Numbers (SSNs) from all Medicare cards by April 2019. A new, unique Medicare Number will replace the SSN-based Health Insurance Claim Number (HICN) on each new Medicare card. Starting April 2018, CMS will begin mailing new Medicare cards to all people with Medicare on a flow basis by geographic location and other factors.
At this time, HealthAxis Group is following CMS protocols and will be in full compliance with this initiative. We expect internal QA testing to be complete by mid-March and UAT testing complete by the end of March 2018. You can find more information about this transition on the CMS website.
We encourage our current clients to reach out to their Account Manager if you have any additional questions.
About HealthAxis Group, LLC
Through its affiliated companies, HealthAxis Group provides outstanding information technology and service solutions that help payers and providers work more efficiently and collaborate to deliver better health with improved efficiency and lower costs. HealthAxis Group helps healthcare organizations address compliance; improve administrative efficiency; lower cost, and improve quality and delivery of care. Payer solutions include benefits administration platforms, web portals, network & application management, consulting, BPO, and transaction services. Provider offerings include practice management solutions, electronic medical records, and technology services that help providers operate more efficiently and effectively.
Media contacts: HealthAxis Group, info@healthaxis.com