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Dec. 18 Atlantic Information Services Webinar to Feature Strategies for Reducing Hospital Readmissions

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SOURCE: Atlantic Information Services

Executives from Cigna Corp., Geisinger Health Plan and Highmark, Inc., will explain how they are working to reduce hospital readmissions in a Dec. 18 webinar sponsored by Atlantic Information Services.

Washington, DC (PRWEB) December 07, 2012

Hospital readmissions for preventable problems exemplify the dysfunction and fragmentation in the health care system. In Atlantic Information Services’s Dec. 18 webinar, “Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates: Strategies for Health Plans and Health Systems,” executives from Cigna Corp., Geisinger Health Plan and Highmark, Inc., will explain how they are working to reduce readmission rates.

CMS estimates nearly one in five Medicare patients are readmitted within a month of discharge. In an effort to reduce readmissions for preventable problems, more than 2,000 hospitals that provide services to Medicare beneficiaries now face penalties if those patients are readmitted too soon. Some private carriers are following the government’s lead by getting tough on readmissions. But health systems worry that they will be incorrectly penalized if held accountable for patients who return for medical conditions unrelated to the original admission. Moreover, they say, commercial carriers are looking beyond the three conditions targeted by CMS — myocardial infarction, heart failure and pneumonia — and are including all admissions, which makes compliance much more difficult.

In this Dec. 18 webinar, a four-person panel of experts — Page Babbit, director of provider engagement, performance and partnerships at Highmark, Inc., Nick Gettas, M.D., chief medical officer of regional accounts at Cigna Corp., Guy D’Andrea, president and founder of consulting firm Discern, LLC ,and Doreen Salek, R.N., director of population management partners for Geisinger Health Plan — will discuss strategies to reduce readmissions and win buy-in from providers. During the panel discussion and in a concluding question-and-answer session, they will address the following questions:

• What can be done to improve care transitions?
• What are the correlations between care transitions and readmission rates?
• Which strategies are most effective at improving communication among hospitals, providers, patients and payers?
• How can Geisinger Health Plan’s ProvenHealth Navigator program help reduce hospital admissions?
• How are Cigna’s embedded care coordinators being used?
• How can predictive modeling and collaborative accountable care programs reduce readmissions?
• How can insurers help hospitals extend care beyond their four walls and coordinate care with skilled nursing facilities, home care facilities and physician practices?

Visit http://aishealth.com/marketplace/c2m44_121812 for more information and registration details on “Reducing Hospital Readmission Rates: Strategies for Health Plans and Health Systems.”

About AIS
Atlantic Information Services, Inc. (AIS) is a publishing and information company that has been serving the health care industry for more than 25 years. It develops highly targeted news, data and strategic information for managers in hospitals, health plans, medical group practices, pharmaceutical companies and other health care organizations. AIS products include print and electronic newsletters, websites, looseleafs, books, strategic reports, databases, webinars and conferences. Learn more at http://www.AISHealth.com.

For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2012/12/prweb10208226.htm