Dr. Ward

Richard E. Ward, MD, MBA, CEO of Reward Health. Also physician, health care analytics and informatics innovator, husband, father, tenor & gradually improving swimmer

Simon Sinek’s TED talk: Change minds by starting with why, not what

Behavior Change, Bibliography, Clinical Process Improvement /

Improving health care requires convincing people to make changes. Changing a care process begins with changing the minds of the people involved in that process. But, how can we change people’s minds? I am a person who loves logic and numbers. Therefore, my tendency is to assume that the best way to convince people to

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Don’t pave the cow paths: The challenge of re-conceptualizing health care processes

1 Comment / Care Planning, Care Relationship Management, Dr. Ward's Methods Notes, Registries /

There is a popular adage for information technology professionals: “Don’t pave the cow paths.” I recently worked with a client from Texas, and they were fond of this adage. They said it with the most excellent drawl, giving it extra credibility, as if they may have actually learned it the hard way on their own

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If the mandate is a tax, it becomes constitutional. The politically inconvenient argument could provide a way out for the Supreme Court.

Affordable Care Act /

In a recent blog post, I attempted to summarize the legal arguments behind the debate about the constitutionality of the health care reform law — as well as I can without the benefit of having any legal education. Reading the transcript of the testimony to the Supreme Court, and reading some of the news coverage

If the mandate is a tax, it becomes constitutional. The politically inconvenient argument could provide a way out for the Supreme Court. Read More »

Trinity Health and BCBSM sign contract to invest in infrastructure for clinical integration and population management

ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing, Health Information Technology /

Trinity Health – Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan (BCBSM) recently announced that they signed a three and a half year agreement under which BCBSM will provide some funding to support a collaborative effort of Trinity Health and its affiliated physician organizations to make improvements in infrastructure designed to improve clinical integration and support

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Is current low trend in health care cost growth due only to recession? Ken Kaufman suggests that 5 other factors may be contributing.

ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing /

In a very interesting recent post to the Health Affairs blog, Ken Kaufman challenges the widely repeated assertion that the current low level of health care cost growth can be attributed to the recession.  After decades of double digit trend, the rate slowed in recent years down to a mere 3.9% in 2010.  The conventional

Is current low trend in health care cost growth due only to recession? Ken Kaufman suggests that 5 other factors may be contributing. Read More »

Of 27 new ACOs named by CMS: 93% avoid downside risk, 82% avoid CMS loans, 33% use payer-based infrastructure, and average beneficiaries per physician is 106

2 Comments / ACO Reimbursement and Gain Sharing, ACO Structure & Governance /

Yesterday, CMS announced the first batch of 27 “normal” ACOs under its Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). I found five things interesting about the list: 93% were unwilling to accept downside risk.  In the original proposed rule for the MSSP, ACOs would have been forced to accept downside risk.  Presumably, CMS thought that “skin in

Of 27 new ACOs named by CMS: 93% avoid downside risk, 82% avoid CMS loans, 33% use payer-based infrastructure, and average beneficiaries per physician is 106 Read More »

Michigan physicians are more focused on medical homes and accountable care organizations and more optimistic about careers in medicine. Coincidence?

ACO Culture /

A recent article in Crains Detroit Business reported the results of a national physician survey conducted by The Doctors’ Company, a large malpractice insurer. According to the survey, 10% of physicians nationally report plans to convert their practice to a “medical home” model. But, that number was 27% for Michigan. Nationally, only 14% of physicians

Michigan physicians are more focused on medical homes and accountable care organizations and more optimistic about careers in medicine. Coincidence? Read More »