Blog

C-TAC submitted comments this week on a proposed rule regarding changing aspects of the nondiscrimination aspects of some health care regulations. While intended to simplify administrative burden and cost, some provisions raised concerns that they could erode the rights of vulnerable patient populations like the LGBTQ community and people with lower English proficiency. C-TAC pointed…

CMS recently finalized three rules that C-TAC commented on. In many cases, they followed our recommendations. Below is a summary of the highlights from these final rules: Final FY 2020 Medicare Hospital Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long Term Acute Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule and Request for Information Opioid measures-…

Date: Oct. 9, 2019Time: 10 AM – 3 PMFacilitators: Carole Fisher, MLAS, Principal Advisor for Strategic Initiatives, Nathan Adelson HospiceChristopher Comeaux, MLAS, CPA, President/CEO, Teleios Collaborative Network We all want Americans with advanced illness to receive comprehensive, high-quality, person- and family-centered care that is consistent with their goals and values and honors their dignity. But…

BJ Miller, MD, a C-TAC Board Member and palliative care physician at the University of California, San Francisco, shared advice on coming to terms with mortality in an interview published by TODAY. Dr. Miller co-authored a handbook for navigating the end of life with journalist Shoshana Berger, titled A Beginner’s Guide to the End: Practical…

Apple CEO Tim Cook has praised When Breath Becomes Air, a memoir written by neurosurgeon Dr. Paul Kalanithi after being diagnosed with lung cancer, as the “best book on re-examining life and values.” NBC reporter Dylan Byers recently asked six innovators to share their summer reading recommendations in his newsletter. Apple’s top executive added When…

Effective segmentation and messaging is critical for building and maintaining coalitions on the state and local level. From engaging in an ongoing dialogue with collaborators to issuing a clear and compelling call for action, communication is essential in order for community-based projects to survive and thrive. By uniting 90 organizations representing healthcare stakeholders from physicians…

The newest advance care planning courses for physicians, developed by Respecting Choices®, a division of C-TAC Innovations, is now available via the Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) learning management system (LMS). The online version of the course will also be available to C-TAC members at a 50% discount for a limited time. The program…

A new Health Affairs article investigates the new payment models announced in April by CMS, Primary Care First and Direct Contracting. The authors covers issues ranging from implementation of the new models to quality measurement. The article also includes an examination of the Serious Illness Population track of Primary Care First, citing the influence of…

Lucy Kalanithi, MD, a physician at the Stanford University School of Medicine and a member of C-TAC’s Board of Directors, was featured in the first episode of a new storytelling podcast, “Meditative Story.” In the episode, Dr. Kalanithi shares what she has learned about life from Cady, her four-year-old daughter. “Seeing things just as they…