The ACO Show

Ahmed Haque (@aehaque), Aledade’s SVP of Network Performance & Strategy, returns to the show to talk to Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) about what ACO performance means in relation to quality, utilization and cost. Ahmed covers how value-based contracts enable the best health outcomes for patients and sustainable revenue for physicians, and the impact of COVID-19 on Aledade’s goals and its potential to improve the way care is delivered going forward.

Dr. Mark Martindale, a primary care physician at Saline Med-Peds in Benton, Arkansas, talks with Josh (@DrIsrael) about how he changed his clinic to adapt to COVID-19. From setting up telemedicine and drive-through visits to keeping himself and his staff healthy, Dr. Martindale shares tips for how other practices can implement these changes.

On this episode of the ACO Show, we meet Mike Morgan (@mwmorgan), CEO of Updox, a telehealth platform. He joins Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) to talk about how Updox enables patients to connect with their health care providers by video and text messaging, and why this has become critically important during the COVID-19 epidemic. Aledade has just partnered with Updox to provide over 500+ partner physicians and their patients access to a telehealth platform.

Dr. Josh Lowentritt (@LowentrittMd), CEO of Louisiana Physicians speaks with Josh (@DrIsrael) about the toll COVID-19 cases are taking on New Orleans and the effects on providers’ safety, financial stability and personal well-being. It’s “as if the H1N1 flu outbreak came in on the Katrina recovery but there’s no Tamiflu. It’s a disaster with no treatment.”

Dr. Daren Anderson is the Director of ConferMED, a program that provides specialist consultations to primary care providers. He is also Director of the Weitzman Institute, an innovation center dedicated to improving primary care for underserved populations and the VP and Chief Quality Officer of Community Health Center, Inc. Dr. Anderson speaks with Josh (@DrJIsrael) about how these programs support care at community health centers, particularly during the COVID-19 epidemic.

On today’s episode, Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) speaks with Dr. Randy Walker and Angie Walker of the Walker Family Clinic in De Queen, Arkansas. They describe how they were able to expand staffing and operating hours at their independent primary care clinic to enable more patients to receive the care they need—and how this has prepared them for the COVID-19 outbreak they are facing right now. They also discuss how they were able to step in and serve their community’s health needs when the only critical access hospital in the area suddenly shut down.  To learn more about the Walker Clinic, please visit their website or Facebook page.

Travis Broome @Travis_Broome, Vice President of Policy at Aledade, discusses some of the steps CMS has taken to make care safer and more accessible for Medicare patients during the COVID-19 outbreak, including allowing widespread use of telehealth by medical providers, and how this has the potential to improve the way health care is delivered for years to come.

Sean Cavanaugh (@dc_cavanaugh), former Director of the Center for Medicare at CMS, joins Josh (@DrJIsrael) to provide an ACO policy update. He discusses an important new CMS rule that requires hospitals to notify physicians when their patients have been hospitalized and he explains why ACOs can still succeed financially and continue to provide necessary primary care services during the COVID-19 outbreak.

On this special episode of The ACO Show, Farzad Mostashari (@Farzad_MD), CEO of Aledade, joins Joe (@JoeShonkwiler) and Josh (@DrJIsrael) to talk about the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Mostashari brings his experience in epidemic surveillance to talk about what we can all do to slow the spread of coronavirus and what Aledade is doing to help primary care practices on the front lines care for their patients during this crisis.

Emily Brower is the Senior Vice President of Clinical Integration and Physician Services at Trinity Health in Michigan, a health system that includes both accountable care organizations and hospitals. In this week’s episode of the ACO Show, she spoke with Joe and Josh about how clinically integrated networks can enter into ACO contracts and engage in preventive health initiatives, and how a hospital-based system balances its commitment to reducing health care costs and maintaining a sustainable business model.