Page 34 - Delaware Medical Journal - May/June 2018
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MedNet Enables Physician Collaboration, Integration of Records Andrew Dahlke, MD
Medical Network Services of Delaware, LLC (MedNet), founded in 1996, is composed
of the four statewide physicians organizations: the Central Delaware Physicians Organization, the Nanticoke Physicians Organization, the New Castle County Physicians Organization, and the Eastern Sussex Physicians Organization.
In 2017, MedNet sold a 49 percent interest of the organization to HealthEC. HealthEC is a nationally recognized leader in clinical analytics and physician-directed, value- based enterprise. In 2017, KLAS, an independent health care IT software ratings HealthEC, customers have, by a wide margin, deployed more abilities than
any other customer base.” This refers to
HealthEC’s ability to help physicians do their primary job of patient care, optimize practice billing, and minimize time spent coordinating care management.1,2
MedNet, with the help of its partner HealthEC, is building a clinically integrated network that allows independent providers to collaborate in patient care and value-based purchasing. Services include integration of multiple EMR platforms across the network, with additional data input from the Delaware Health Information Network (DHIN), claims databases, pharmacy records, and clinical laboratories. The network takes data from any system, in any care setting, in any format, and integrates
it. As with any similar system, free- text PDF notes that have to be scanned for key words are the least effective
EMR data to integrate. In comparison,
MedNet, through the HealthEC platform, offers 2018 MIPS advising and data submission. The HealthEC software allows ongoing tracking of practice performance to selected standards.
This includes revenue enhancement programs for primary care services such as organizing, scheduling and (if needed) visits; identifying chronic care patients; facilitating chronic care management; and assisting in the documentation of the chronic care coordination.
MedNet with HealthEC has procured
Medicaid contract, which pays a baseline
of the Medicare fee schedule and then has value-based incentives based upon care quality (3 percent) and cost management (7 percent) that could increase reimbursement an additional 10 percent. There are six simple quality measures: diabetes care (HbA1c control <8 percent), medication management for asthma, cervical cancer screening, breast cancer screening, Body Mass Index (BMI) assessment, and prenatal and postpartum care. In addition, if the cost of care is kept below 85 percent of the cost of the premium, then 50 percent of the total savings generated is available to MedNet to be redistributed to the physicians.
In prior Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), these targets were measured using only claims data by insurers. This creates a three-month lag time to receive input on performance regarding the quality measures. In this older model, only the claims data had relevance,
and the three-month time lag in claims
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Del Med J | May/June 2018 | Vol. 90 | No. 5
