Sg2 Blog

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...

Environmental factors are adversely impacting provider financials and weakening providers’ positions in fee-for-service (FFS) contracting. Providers have been working to regain financial stability after pandemic-driven volume swings that were quickly followed by workforce shortages—now the health care industry can add inflation to the list of considerable challenges. These pressures have quickly ...

Medicare’s new Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM) is an important opportunity for oncology practices to participate in a voluntary alternative payment model (APM) designed to increase the value of care for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients undergoing chemotherapy. This five-year model not only builds on the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and offers incentives to manage care while reducing spend...

Editor’s Note: Jenna Stern, Vizient, AVP, Regulatory Affairs & Public Policy, also contributed to this post. In the absence of congressional intervention, a significant financial incentive for physicians to participate in value-based payment models will disappear at the end of 2022. To provide greater stability to providers reimbursed by Medicare, the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthori...

Editor’s note: Joe Cummings, PhD, Vizient Technology Program Director, authored this post, which was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on our country’s most vulnerable populations, from who gets the SARS-CoV-2 virus to its impact on mental health and access to care. For example, the pandemic ...

Understanding the timeline: application process starts June 1, 2022 Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) is Medicare’s established accountable care organization (ACO) program that allows for new participants every performance year (PY). To participate in MSSP, an organization must submit an application and be approved by CMS. For PY2023, the application process is as follows: An organ...

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...

The outpatient shift is changing the high reliability paradigm for health care organizations. What historically has been an acute care and IP focus will need to expand across the enterprise as the locus of care moves away from hospitals and into diffuse ambulatory and home settings. More sites of care, workforce challenges and higher disease complexity have led to increased risk and more obstacl...

At the end of 2021, we celebrated Sg2’s 20-year anniversary with heartfelt reflections from friends and colleagues past and present. This year Sg2 celebrates another milestone: five years as part of Vizient, the largest member-owned health care company. Sg2 members have heard us speak often about our System of CARE (Clinical Alignment and Resource Effectiveness) concept, which is our ...

Sg2, a Vizient company, is pleased to announce the addition of Laura P Jacobs as a Senior Advisor in its consulting practice for value-based care. “Laura is one of the greatest minds in health care with an innate ability to see challenges clearly and successfully drive change,” says Sg2 senior consulting principal Tawnya Bosko, PhD, DHA. “I have had the privilege of having her a...