Sg2 Blog

Understanding the Transition: ACO REACH Replaces Current Direct Contracting Model On February 24, 2022, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced the ACO REACH (Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) Model, with an application period ending April 22, 2022. ACO REACH will replace the current Direct Contracting Model (DC) on January 1, 2023, as the highest level of...

In our previous post, we discussed health inequities in our current health care landscape, providing some examples of how the negative impacts of social determinants of health can contribute to undesirable health outcomes and lead to significant health disparities. Now, we would like to focus on how health systems can be more aware of these disparities and turn that awareness into action. Health e...

Editor’s note: Principal Rebecca Segel also contributed to this post. Three cultural influencing trends are colliding in the US: a global pandemic, a recession and a racial inequity awakening. Each of these is drawing more attention to what we already know in health care—that is, factors such as race, socioeconomic status, environmental elements and social structures influence health....

Debra “Deb” Raupers, MSN, RN, is the enterprise chief nurse executive for the Guthrie Clinic, based in Sayre, Pennsylvania. Q: To start us off, can you talk us through your career progression as a nursing professional and how you came to your current role at Guthrie? A: I have been in nursing for over 30 years, and it's been a wonderful career within the Guthrie Healthcare System. I w...

For most health systems, the post-COVID survivor mode has ended. Systems have reached some level of cost structure and workforce stability, and they can turn their attention once again to strategic investments and growth. But that doesn’t mean the coming years will be without challenges. Top of mind for many is ambulatory growth and access, capacity management, new revenue generation, and s...

As part of Sg2’s value-based care (VBC) analysis and market research, we review the quarterly earnings calls from a subset of publicly traded legacy payers and VBC-focused entrants. The summary is designed to highlight emerging trends and dynamics in these closely related industries, especially as they tie to VBC. The following post draws from recently released earnings call transcripts fro...

I had just finished giving a presentation to a room of hospital CEOs on the current AI landscape when one of the executives raised her hand. “Is AI really going to be a thing in health care? We’ve spent over a decade installing EHRs in our system and all they have done is increased cost and burnout. And with cybersecurity threats, I feel AI is only going to make things worse,” she said. I responde...

Virtua Health is a five-hospital system with more than 350 locations in southern New Jersey, including 40+ ambulatory surgery centers, seven emergency departments, and seven urgent care centers, as well as telehealth options; its specialties include orthopedics and advanced surgery. The system aimed to optimize its digestive disease services after acquiring several gastroenterology groups and Lour...

Direct-to-employer healthcare offerings benefit from proof-of-concept, and often your employees can provide an excellent test group. As health systems pursue employer engagement through direct-to-employer healthcare solutions, two of the first questions health systems marketing their services to local employers should expect are: Have you done this with your own employees? and How did it go? Organ...

Legacy healthcare, a domain once perceived as an unassailable fortress, now finds itself besieged by unconventional adversaries. Retail powerhouses, tech titans, venture capitalists and insurance providers are collectively reshaping the healthcare terrain. The expansion of these 'game changers,' propelled by mergers and acquisitions (M&As), appears limitless, showing no regard for geographical...