Zynx Health Comments on Medicare Shared Savings Plan ACO Final Rule

LOS ANGELES, June 18, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Zynx Health™, the market leader in providing evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement and mobile care coordination solutions, has released a position statement on the Medicare Shared Savings Plan (MSSP) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Final Rule which adds a new eligibility requirement for the use of enabling technologies to improve care coordination.

The MSSP ACO Final Rule was recently issued by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Among its provisions is a requirement for healthcare organizations to describe the technologies they will use to coordinate care between providers and settings in order to join an MSSP ACO. If the organizations do not have such technologies their application will be denied.

Zynx Health Vice President of Clinical Informatics Victor Lee, M.D., stated: "Care coordination between providers is one of the cornerstones of both accountable care and population health management. Yet it has not been an area of strong focus for most healthcare organizations. Clinicians are challenged to share patient-centered data effectively across care teams within a single facility, much less across the care continuum, given the lack of interoperable technologies. The publication of this Final Rule demonstrates that CMS has learned from the experience of existing MSSP ACOs that the use of enabling technologies is critical to improving care coordination."

Examples of care coordination technologies called out by CMS include: electronic health records and other health IT tools; telehealth services; remote patient monitoring; health information exchange services; and other electronic tools that engage patients in their care.

"We at Zynx Health applaud this specific part of the Final Rule. We believe it is a significant step forward in delivering care that is centered on the patient's needs and is consistent, evidence-based and cost-effective across settings," Dr. Lee added. "Zynx Health has long been a supporter and advocate for better coordinated care to help achieve the goals of the Triple Aim."

Improving care coordination is particularly important given The Joint Commission's statement that an estimated 80 percent of serious medical errors involve miscommunication between caregivers during the transfer of patients. Under the MSSP payment structure, such an error can have financial repercussions for all members of the ACO as well as the consequences it brings to the patient and the reputations of the providers involved.

"The vision of ACOs is to move away individual episodes of care and toward a more longitudinal view," Dr. Lee continued. "That is in complete alignment with ZynxCarebook's mission to help healthcare providers deliver better coordinated care that is patient-centered, evidence-based and HIPAA-compliant. By allowing every care team member to participate in patient-centric, role-based, secure communication on their mobile devices, ACO participants can exchange real-time information about patients more effectively. Empowering our healthcare professionals with the right tools helps them to significantly improve the quality of care, drive down costs and, most importantly, enhance the patient experience."

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About Zynx Health
Zynx Health, part of the Hearst Health network, is the pioneer and market leader in evidence- and experience-based clinical improvement and mobile care solutions that provide the care guidance to enhance quality, improve care coordination, and decrease variation across an individual's health journey. With Zynx Health, healthcare organizations exceed industry demands for delivering high-quality care at lower costs under value-based reimbursement models. Zynx Health partners with healthcare organizations to continuously and measurably improve care every day, for every patient, every time. To learn more, visit zynxhealth.com or call 855.367.ZYNX.

About Hearst Health
Zynx Health is part of the Hearst Health network, which also includes First Databank (FDB), MCG and Homecare Homebase, and Hearst Health International. The mission of the Hearst Health network is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person's health journey. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 84 percent of discharged patients, 174 million insured individuals, 35 million home health visits, and 4 billion prescriptions. Extensions of the Hearst Health network include Hearst Health Ventures and the Hearst Health Innovation Lab. Visit hearsthealth.com.

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