BACON from the MaineHealth ACO

In this special farewell episode of BACON, Heather and Mike welcome Dr. Asaf Bitton, keynote speaker for the upcoming MaineHealth ACO Value-Based Care Symposium on May 14. As Executive Director of Ariadne Labs and a leader in primary care innovation, Dr. Bitton shares insights from healthcare systems worldwide and discusses the evolving roles of primary care and specialists in risk-based models. Be on the lookout for our new podcast, Curbside Consult, in May!

Endocrinologist Stephen Babirak, MD, joins Mike and Heather to discuss how statins can lower cardiovascular disease risk in patients with diabetes, vastly improving their outcomes and extending their lives.

Learn how care managers from the MaineHealth ACO and St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston are collaborating to increase communication between the hospital and primary care practices to reduce 30-day readmission rates.

MaineHealth Associate Chief Quality Officer Mark Parker, MD, joins Heather and Mike to discuss a promising care variation reduction project that uses the delivery of timely lab results as a lever to improve diagnosis accuracy.

Evidence suggests that older adults age more successfully when they’re able to stay in their homes or in their home communities. In this episode of BACON, we talk to gerontologist Dr. Heidi Wierman and healthy aging advocate Jess Maurer to learn how primary care providers can help their patients age in place safely and comfortably. They discuss strategies for working with individual patients and look at ways to engage with, and support, community-based efforts to support healthy aging.

The HPV vaccine has been proven effective in preventing cancer but our vaccination rates could be higher. MaineHealth’s Dr. Melissa Keeport and Caroline Zimmerman discuss new guidelines and the role primary care can play in improving rates.

On May 22, the MaineHealth ACO will host the Working Together to Advance Value-Based Care symposium in Freeport, with health policy superstar Dr. Don Berwick headlining as keynote speaker. In this BACON episode, we take a deep dive into one of the symposium’s afternoon workshops. Focused on payment bundles for specialty care, the workshop will be led by our two podcast guests, Dr. James Powers and Sue Seekins.

In less than a year, Southern Maine Health Care reduced length of stay by thirteen percent and saved the health system nearly four million dollars. MaineHealth Southern Region Associate Chief Medical Officer Michael Albaum, MD, led the effort and shares his “recipe” for success.

Dr. Kendra Emery, the ACO’s Chief Medical Officer, providers her insights and plans for the organization and shares how her vision aligns with ACO priorities.

MaineHealth Medical Group Senior Director for Palliative Care Becca Hutchinson, MD, provides her unique and inspiring perspective on the role of palliative care in medicine today. Dr. Hutchinson recently helped to establish a stand-alone palliative care outpatient practice in Scarborough and is a leading advocate for increasing access to palliative care in northern New England.

Unwarranted care variation is often discussed in terms of its impact on cost. But there’s another dimension to care variation that is perhaps more important: its impact on patient safety. In this episode, MaineHealth Medical Group’s VP for Quality and Safety, Natisa Dill, discusses variation’s profound impact on safety and steps to mitigate it.

One of our most popular episodes of the last year featured an interview with Memorial’s Matt Dunn, DO, discussing his primary care team’s success in increasing patient access. We replay that interview this month, as access remains both a challenge and a priority.

The reduction of unwarranted care variation has the potential to improve quality while reducing cost of care, which aligns perfectly with the principles of value-based care championed by the ACO. Join us as we explore MHACO’s dedicated focus on end-of-life care and transitions of care in our conversation with Carl DeMars, MD, chair of the MHACO board and VP for physician and APP services for MaineHealth’s Coastal Region.

The ACO’s Emily Levi reports MIPS and MSSP results for our participants and the financial implications.

MHACO’s President Jen Moore introduces ours recently released 2022 Annual Report, highightig how ACO participants improved quality, reduced over-utilization, and generated substantial value-based care revenue through collaborative efforts among providers, care teams, administrators, and payer partners.

Pediatric sports medicine physicians Michele LaBotz, MD, and Sarah Hoffman, DO, join us to introduce the concept of physical literacy and share resources that primary care providers can use to assess and improve the physical literacy of their pediatric patients.

In the world of value-based care, there’s one set of diagnosis codes that carry much greater weight than all the rest: HCCs. What are HCCs and why are they so important? Scott Williams, MD, joins Heather and Mike with the answers.

Ryan Polly, MaineHealth’s VP for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion, joins Heather to explore aspects of health equity and the results of a cross-cultural competency assessment completed by hundreds of MaineHealth providers.

Reducing care variation is a strategic goal for both the MaineHealth ACO and the MaineHealth system during FY24 and beyond. The ACO’s chief operating officer, Shannon Banks, joins us to introduce initiatives that the ACO board has approved for addressing unwarranted variation in end-of-life care and transitions of care.

Although the healthcare workforce is overwhelmingly female, women are underrepresented in leadership roles. This month, Mike and Heather discuss this phenomenon with Gayle Capozzalo of the Equity Collaborative. A former executive at Yale New Haven Health, Gayle provides insights into the cause of the disparity and offers a leadership pathway for women.