More than 16 million seniors are enrolled in Medicare Advantage, which is a type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide seniors with their Part A and Part B benefits. In recent years, Medicare Advantage enrollment has grown tremendously due to its exceptional model of coordinated care.

Medicare Advantage patients benefit from a team-based approach that focuses on primary care and prevention.

Talking to seriously ill patients about their prognosis, the trajectory of their illness, and their treatment options can be a difficult conversation for clinicians to initiate. Patients are also uncomfortable proactively sharing their feelings on the topic with their physician or their families.  Because of the silence, there is typically a big gap between what a patient wants and what actually happens.

According to a Massachusetts Commission on End of Life Care/Massachusetts AARP survey done in 2005,

Atrius Health was honored to be among several panelists to participate in the 2014 Annual Cost Trends Hearing yesterday on “Challenges and Opportunities for Coordinated Care: Post-Acute Care.” Richard Lopez, MD, Chief Medical Officer at Atrius Health joined other panelists including representatives from Baystate Medical Center, Brockton Visiting Nurses Association and Beaumont Rehabilitation and Skilled Nursing Center to discuss the vital role that post-acute care plays in improving patient outcomes and reducing healthcare costs.

Meaningful Use, a program launched by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) in 2011, was first created as part of the Electronic Health Record Incentive Program, to provide financial incentives to encourage physician and hospitals to use electronic health records (EHR) to improve patient care. Meaningful Use is made up of three stages of performance for use of electronic health records: Stage 1 focuses on data capturing and sharing; Stage 2 focuses on advanced clinical processes;

The following is a news release pertaining to results announced by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

Newton, MA (September 16, 2014) – Atrius Health announced it was the highest quality ACO in New England based on the 33 ACO quality measures and the second highest quality Pioneer ACO in the country. Atrius Health’s medical groups achieved among the highest quality and patient experience scores nationally while also achieving savings for Medicare according to preliminary 2013 results released today by the Centers for Medicare &

Atrius Health was recently named by Becker’s Hospital Review, a leading healthcare industry publication, as one of the “100 Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to Know” in 2014. Atrius Health has managed the continuum of care for its patients in commercial, Medicare and Medicaid plans for decades.

“We are proud to be recognized for a second year as one of the nation’s leading ACOs.  The Atrius Health clinicians and staff are dedicated to achieving the triple aim of increasing quality,

Finding innovative ways to care for our patients with chronic medical conditions is important at Atrius Health. Take, for example, an 84-year-old male patient with memory impairment who lives alone and has a urinary catheter. In 2012, this patient had 11 hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to catheter issues alone. In July of 2013, this patient was enrolled in a new Primary Care Case Management (PCCM) program at Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates, the largest affiliate of Atrius Health.

A number of Atrius Health representatives from VNA Care Network & Hospice and VNA of Boston participated in last week’s Home Care Advocacy Day at the State House hosted by the Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts.

The annual Advocacy Day provided an opportunity for VNA Care Network & Hospice and VNA of Boston staff to meet with legislators and staff members to highlight the value of home care as an integral part of the health care system and to discuss priorities in the budget and legislation.

According to the American Lung Association, asthma is one of the most common chronic disorders in childhood affecting an estimated 7 million children under the age of 18. Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15 and is one of the leading causes of school absenteeism. The annual direct health care cost of asthma is approximately $50 billion; indirect costs (e.g. lost productivity) add another $6 billion, for a total of $56 billion dollars.

Later this week the state’s Health Policy Commission (HPC) will be holding a public hearing on proposed regulations for the registration of provider organizations.  The hearing, scheduled for February 12, 2014 at 1 pm, will likely generate comments from providers and provider organizations such as Atrius Health that will be affected by the regulations and some of the new requirements of the HPC. Written comments are due to the HPC on April 11,