Experts see growth ahead for community care

This year is sure to show more growth in all areas of the community care sector, according to experts.

“Regardless of what happens with healthcare reform, I think we’ll see a lot of new alignments between physicians and hospitals,” said Kelly E. Styles, president of Verras Consulting, a healthcare consulting group. “There could be a lot of co-op type of associations, starting with the formalizing of sharing information.”

This was already a popular trend in 2010, he said, and it’s sure to continue.

“Physicians aren’t looking to align with hospitals just because of reform, but because it’s the wise thing to do,” said Styles. “Many physicians are merging and hospitals are working together instead of competing, but they have been doing this quietly.”

With the merging of physicians and hospitals, it’s possible that some networks could qualify as accountable care organizations, but most physicians wouldn’t be able to create the capital to do so, Styles added.

The Camden Group released its annual Top 10 Trends in Healthcare in 2011 last month, and number six on the list predicts that “physicians will make or break new care models.” The group says that to improve outcomes and lower costs, hospitals and medical groups will focus on accountable care, bundled payments, patient-centered medical homes and/or clinical integration. Reducing variation in care – primarily by physicians – will be central to any successful strategy. An effective bundled payment strategy, for example, requires specialists to address clinical resource consumption and supply cost and use while standardizing care protocols in conjunction with hospitalists and intensivists.

"2011 is the year when a growing number of providers move forward with new care delivery models and run into the very real challenges posed by overhauling traditional ways of treating patients. The fundamental question is whether providers can manage costs and improve quality while maintaining provider choice and open access," said Camden Group President Steven T. Valentine. "As always, the devil is in the details."

Betty Otter-Nickerson, president of Sage Healthcare, said patients seem to be the driving force behind the technological advances in provider offices, thus improving billing and other patient experiences.

“This makes for a better doctor-patient relationship in any practice, including long-term care sectors,” she said. “EHRs, in essence, provide for better care, more accurate billing and easier payment collection.”

“I believe 2011 to be the year of mobility and connectivity as patients discover that they need, want and have access their records and information – including bills and payments – via their smart phone or computer, to review bills and to confirm that what they said to the doctor is correct in their records,” Otter-Nickerson concluded.