KevinMD—We caught a great essay by Steve Wilkins, MPH on KevinMD this week. Wilkins asserts that if CMS bundled payments inspire hospitals change in the name of quality and efficiency …

Our Take: Yes. The success of new models of care hinges on healthcare organizations’ ability to effectively engage patients to take more active roles in their care. Doctors and hospitals cannot be everywhere at every time for every patient forever. Patients have to better manage their own conditions. What’s more. This is what they want.

It’s what we (as we are all patients) want. But we need the information, guidance and tools to do so. An extension of the status quo simply will not be enough in a bundled-payment, pay-for-outcomes world. Let’s get moving on implementing new ways to transform and extend physician-patient communication.

See on engagingthepatient.com