Sg2 Blog

It’s that time of year! CMS recently finalized a set of changes to the country’s largest alternative payment model (APM): the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). With a goal of attracting new entrants, retaining existing accountable care organizations (ACOs) and encouraging ACOs with expiring participation agreements to renew their commitment, this broad set of changes constitutes ...

Editor’s note: Terri Scannell, Vizient Senior Social Responsibility Director, authored this post, which was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. Chances are, you may have heard of a little acronym called ESG. What you may not know, however, is what it means exactly and why it’s important for healthcare. After all, the last thing we need is anoth...

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) has opened the application window for the Bundled Payment for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A) program for the third and final time. Through May 31, 2023, provider organizations can submit a non-binding application to participate in the program’s two additional model years. The program extension may be an opportunity to work towards o...

For some, value-based care (VBC) is just a trendy term that replaces other expressions that have come before it (eg, population health, accountable care, managed care). It often connotes a payer contracting strategy that involves some degree of risk sharing and quality reporting, but for those providers who fully embrace it, it’s much more. VBC is a vital part of addressing the challenges th...

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 these tie to VBC. The following post draws from recently released earnings call transcripts fr...

Perhaps one of the hottest topics in healthcare today, Medicare Advantage (MA) is anticipated to have a monumental year in 2023. Not only do Congressional Budget Office (CBO) projections indicate 2023 will be the year MA penetration surpasses the symbolic majority threshold of 50% nationally, but also major regulatory changes are set to be enacted or finalized that will impact both plan sponsors a...

Health care providers in many markets have found themselves becoming a part of something larger than they originally signed up for. For hospitals and health systems to be sustainable during current workforce challenges and margin pressures, they are increasingly joining large networks to drive revenue. As a result, the health care industry is seeing record numbers of mergers and acquisitions, ofte...

Our opinions, beliefs and values influence our choice of words and phrases. However, we are not always conscious of the reverse — that our choice of language can influence our opinions, beliefs, and values. This is a highly overlooked factor in humans’ adaptability to change. When we use terms that have a significant and emotional meaning in one context to another, we bring that contex...

As payers incorporate much-needed financial incentives to advance health equity, provider organizations and clinically integrated networks (CINs) should adopt payer-agnostic approaches for true transformation. Both public and private payers have begun incorporating financial incentives into contracts with providers to advance health equity. The ACO (accountable care organization) Realizing Equity...

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...