Farzad Mostashari Profile picture
Sep 8, 2020 5 tweets 3 min read Read on X
1/ Some more peeks at age-specific COVID symptom trends from FB/CMU surveys at state level.

Here's Massachusetts and Maine

The rates are VERY LOW- the Northeast is the only oasis of green in the country on COVIDExitStrategy.org

but is there a worrisome trend developing? Image
2/ Look at the y axis for these states- GA/SC/TN/KY

Unlike MA/ME, they are persistently over 0.8% CLI rate , and heading thew wrong direction, including among the older age group.

Rising deaths will follow. Image
3/ The y axis jumps again-

MS and LA are very high, especially in youngest age group, but also 55+

They are also among the highest in test positivity.

We need to quench the outbreak in these states. If governments won't, then schools, businesses, families have to act Image
4/ I'm also worried about Florida

Like Texas, trends came down from the July peak. But unlike Texas, there was a second August wave among the young, and now an increase among the older population

Despite/Because official assertions, things will get worse usatoday.com/story/travel/n… Image

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More from @Farzad_MD

Nov 2, 2023
1/ Final rule for Physician Fee Schedule is out.

let's see how the Medicare Shared Savings Program provisions played out compared to the proposed rule.

(tl;dr mostly as proposed- incremental improvements to the nation's most mature, and most successful value based program)
2/ risk adjustment should be updated to the new "v28" approach for performance and benchmark years.



my only complaint is that it's only applied moving forward- if it's good policy why not allow existing contracts to update?

3/ Fixing the glitch where ACO risk scores and regional risk scores weren't treated equally (ACO gets a cap, now region does too)



(again, why not have a simple single approach for all contracts instead of only applying it moving forward?)

Read 12 tweets
Sep 11, 2023
1/ What are the factors driving the mysterious slowdown in Medicare cost growth?

It's been a longstanding dinner conversation among health policy folks, and I have one idea to add to the mix that I haven't seen discussed yet.. Image
2/ There were lots of theories batted around in the article and the followup from @sangerkatz

My fav: "Talk Therapy Actually Works" (@ZekeEmanuel)

Policymakers setting expectations of cost control inhibit investments and behaviors that drive cost growth
nytimes.com/2023/09/09/ups…
We saw similar unexplained slowdown in healthcare costs during the *ultimately unsuccessful* Clinton health reform efforts.

The slowdown happened almost immediately in 1992, even though nothing had happened yet, other than campaign talk

(@jrovner can prob give history on that) Image
Read 8 tweets
Dec 24, 2022
1/ Warning!

nerdy Medicare payment deep dive

OMNIBUS EDITION

You've read the headlines ("Medicare pay cuts partially averted") but to understand what led us here--and what's to come-- we need to go deeper

Also, some cool tangents on effective/ineffective financial incentives
2/ let's walk through the weeds of

"a temporary patch on an expiring pandemic patch for the unintended consequences of a good-will effort to fix pay imbalance between primary care & specialists, made worse by a failure to predict future inflation, w a sop to value-based pay"
3/ The "failure to predict medical inflation"

remember the annual "doc fix" scramble? it was because the "sustainable growth rate" was indexed to inflation, which was near zero for years. So Congress had to constantly step in to reverse its own past efforts to control costs. 😧
Read 27 tweets
Dec 22, 2022
1/ Medical Debt- a holiday story

A few years ago, I found myself poring over a printout of ED frequent fliers with a PCP in Mississippi.

The office manager knew why they were going to the ED.

“They’re not going to show their faces here. They all owe us money.”
2/ Because of the Emergency Medical Treatment & Labor Act, the ED would see them even if they owed money

But thousands more dollars would have been added on top of the prior debts

His bills will climb. His credit score will drop. Collection agencies will start hounding him
3/ When I was in college I got dehydrated at a crew meet and an ambulance took me to the ER. A couple of liters of fluid later I was fine

But I couldn't figure out what to do when the bills started coming

For years I carried the stress and shame of being sent to debt collection
Read 17 tweets
Nov 1, 2022
1/ Let's flip through the Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule just out, w shared savings focus

Here's a little trick to get past all the pesky comments (that people spent 1000's of hours developing and submitting), and right to the meat of the matter:

CTRL-F "we are finalizing"
2/ First up: we want to increase participation!

strong evidence for providing upfront capital, especially to rural, underserved, low income ACOs (see AIM)

Good idea to expand it 👍

Lots of comments about eligibility criteria, repayment, etc etc.

"finalized as proposed"
3/ We want to increase participation!

Let's allow folks to stay in one sided risk for longer, especially lower income (no hospital) ACOs

Makes sense 👍

Lots of comments about who, how, when, etc etc

"finalized as proposed without modification"
Read 23 tweets
Oct 1, 2022
1/ Medical practices (and staff) are often damaged by hurricanes too, and the need for care will rise over the next few days to weeks

I'll summarize here some tips that our @AledadeACO Louisiana team have assembled to help others w the recovery process

(eg grab your diplomas)
2/ The needs - and the damage to care capacity- can persist for weeks

“I’m trying to caution [residents]. You do not want to get hurt now. There is not adequate services to take care of you if you cut your leg with a chainsaw, if you fall off a roof,.."

3/ Biggest immediate needs:

Electricity, phone service and access to EHR may not be available

Generators and Gas will be in short supply

If the practice has to be temporarily relocated, need to inform patients.

If Rx pads damaged, need to inform State Board of Pharmacy
Read 7 tweets

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