Bend Memorial Clinic, the largest provider of quality, comprehensive and convenient physician healthcare in Central Oregon, has joined with Clear One Health Plans to offer the region’s first Focused Patient Care Model, similar to a Medical Home Model, beginning January 1, 2010.

A recent study shows that uninsured American adults with chronic illnesses often go undiagnosed or undertreated, leading to an increased risk of costly, disabling and even lethal complications of their disease.

Seniors in Medicare Advantage spent fewer days in a hospital and had fewer hospital re-admissions, according to an analysis by America's Health Insurance Plans.

A five-year pay-for-performance project involving 10 large physician practices across the country has shown increased revenue savings and improved quality of care.

A new report on diabetes by the National Conference of State Legislatures is meant to help consumers, health providers and lawmakers with a disease affecting some 24 million Americans and costing $174 billion annually.

I don’t think we in health policy really understand how complex our systems are and what manner of challenges – some of which we created – present themselves in clinical care.

Medicare patients with diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease or congestive heart failure who used home healthcare within three months of discharge from a hospital cost the program $1.71 billion less than those who used other forms of post-acute care over a two-year period.

HUNT Biosciences, the commercial arm of the HUNT Study and associated biobank today announced the appointment of former GE Healthcare director Per Foss as its new CEO. The company provides pharmaceutical and healthcare companies with biomarker discovery and validation services. These are based on the unique HUNT Study, which for the past 25 years has gathered blood samples from the general population of the Nord-Trondelag region together with detailed phenotype and environmental data. Foss joins just as recruitment for the third phase, HUNT III has closed, again with an astonishing high inclusion rate of 60%. This will bring the total recruitment number of unique individuals to 135,000 and reinforce the core strengths in key public health areas such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obstructive lung disease, osteoporosis and mental health. More than 60 % of the participants have been screened twice, 25 % have participated in all three surveys.

CareOregon, a non-profit health plan that provides Medicaid and Medicare managed care services for Oregonians, and Health Integrated, the leading Targeted Population Health Management company, are partnering to improve the health and quality of life for CareOregon's members with diabetes and depression.