News and Events

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - December 2012

Mon, 24 Dec 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare will participate in the monthly APCD Council meeting, held via teleconference and open to the public. APCD Council meetings provide an ideal venue for to learn and share information about national, state and regional initiatives, as well as perspectives from payers/carriers and data organizations. Calls are held on the 4th Monday of every month from 2:00pm – 3:00pm ET. Please see the APCD Council website for details.

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - November 2012

Mon, 26 Nov 2012 05:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - October 2012

Mon, 22 Oct 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - September 2012

Mon, 24 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Women in Health Care Management September Networking Event

Wed, 12 Sep 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare’s Vice President, Linda Green also serves as President for Women in Health Care Management (WHCM). WHCM is a professional organization for women in the healthcare industry serving the greater Boston area. Members benefit from education and career development, leadership and mentoring programs, and networking events.

Join Ms. Green at the upcoming networking event on September 12, 2012, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET. The event is being held at Papa Razzi Restaurant, located at 155 Worcester Road, Framingham, MA. Meet new colleagues and re-acquaint with old ones. Enjoy hearty appetizers and a cash bar.

Attendance is free to WHCM members and only $15 for non-members. Space is limited, so to reserve your seat, click here. To become a WHCM member, click here.

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - August 2012

Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - July 2012

Mon, 23 Jul 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare Attends APCD Council Meeting - June 2012

Mon, 25 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Women in Health Care Management June Networking Event

Tue, 19 Jun 2012 04:00:00 GMT

Join Ms. Green at the upcoming networking event on June 19, 2012, from 6:00pm – 8:00pm ET. The event is being held at Joe's American Bar & Grill, located at 985 Providence Highway, Dedham, MA. Meet new colleagues and re-acquaint with old ones. Enjoy hearty appetizers and a cash bar.

Attendance is free to WHCM members and only $15 for non-members. Space is limited, so to reserve your seat, click here. To become a WHCM member, click here.

John Freedman Participates in Panel on Health Care Costs

Fri, 13 Jan 2012 19:32:00 GMT

Newton, Massachusetts, home to Freedman HealthCare, kicked off 2012 with a panel discussion on health care costs. In an effort to address rising prices, local health care professionals including Freedman HealthCare Principal John Freedman, MD, MBA met with state officials to explore ways to reign in the increasing costs. Dr. Freedman provided valuable insight based on his experience as a physician and consultant, sharing his expertise in the health care landscape.

To read full copy of the article, click here.

Freedman HealthCare contributes to landmark white paper on healthcare trends in Central Texas

Tue, 29 Nov 2011 17:29:00 GMT

Why care about health and healthcare? Central Health, the Austin-based hospital district authority, hired Freedman Healthcare, along with partners Health Resources in Action (HRIA) and Sierra Systems, to find some answers. Central Health was concerned about the rising cost of health care and the health disparities emerging across the five-county region in Central Texas. They charged us to help educate their diverse stakeholder groups about the root causes of declining access and health and escalating costs, and to motivate leaders in the public and private sectors to collaborate and take action. An ongoing project, the team is facilitating a series of consensus meetings, whose focus is centered around the research findings published in our landmark White Paper, “Health and Healthcare Trends and Innovations in Central Texas.”

The White Paper captured the trends and practices in the public and private sector that are improving and/or hindering optimal community health, health care, and economic development. The research findings were presented by Freedman affiliate consultant Margie Ross Decter and HRIA Vice President Steve Ridini, to more than 200 leaders in the region on October 13th at the kick-off session of the Leader Dialogue Series. An ongoing initiative, the Series will help Central Health convene diverse leaders from stakeholder groups such as employers, insurers, providers, government, non-profits, and consumers, to build consensus around the priorities needed to improve health and health care in the region, and create an action plan to make measurable progress on achieving these objectives.

Freedman HealthCare Sponsors NAHDO APCD Meeting

Mon, 28 Nov 2011 16:34:00 GMT

On November 14, 2011, the National Association of Health Data Organizations (NAHDO) held its 5th annual all-payer claims database conference, Expanding and Enhancing All Payer Claims Database System Capacity in the States. Freedman HealthCare proudly sponsored and helped plan this Alexandria, VA event, and was represented by John Freedman who moderated a panel discussion on innovative uses of APCD for policy and market improvements, and Linda Green who hosted a round table discussion on non-claims payments and data collection. Dr. Freedman moderated the morning session on Innovative Uses of APCD for Policy and Market Improvements. Panelists included Julie Bartels, Wisconsin Health Information Organization; Thomas Mahoney, MD, Finger Lakes Health Systems Agency; Young Joo, Massachusetts Division of Health Care Finance and Policy; and Ian Duncan, University of California, Santa Barbara. Mr. Joo showed how Massachusetts used their APCD to investigate the costs and quality of inpatient care, finding no correlation between the amount paid for care and the measured quality across several different conditions or procedures. His work has contributed to the ongoing market and payment reform discussions in Massachusetts. Also regarding Massachusetts, Mr. Duncan discussed his research into the effects of health care reform on coverage and access to care. Ms. Bartels discussed the latest activities of Wisconsin’s voluntary APCD, including efforts at evaluating practice patterns for specialty care. Dr. Mahoney discussed his work with the Finger Lakes (NY) Health Systems Agency on patient centered medical homes and efforts to tie the APCD in to the regions HIE.

Linda Green facilitated one of the afternoon roundtables on non-claims payment issues in APCDs. Non-claims payments, such as quality bonuses, infrastructure payments or capitation payments, can result in incorrect payment analyses as important payment amounts are missing from the data. Similarly, tracking of utilization may be incorrect if certain encounters or services are not coded in claims, for example, if physicians fail to submit a claim for all office visits when they are paid under capitation. See the conference website for additional information.

Ms. Green also served on the program committee for the meeting.

Read conference highlights published by NAHDO.

Additional information about the conference, including presentations and panelist slides can be found on NAHDOs website.
Read about other upcoming Freedman HealthCare events.

Freedman HealthCare VP Elected to NAHDO Board

Wed, 23 Nov 2011 15:05:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare’s Vice President, Programs, Linda Green, was elected to NAHDO’s board of Directors as a Corporate Member. The board elections were publically announced at NAHDO’s Annual Conference held on November 15-16, 2011. As a Board member, Ms. Green hopes to share her extensive knowledge surrounding APCDs and direct exposure to their implementation.

To view the members of NAHDO Board of Directors, click here.

Freedman HealthCare addresses Suffolk University

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 14:26:00 GMT

John Freedman, Principal of Freedman HealthCare, was a guest lecturer for Suffolk University’s Health Systems I course where he presented "Follow the Money: Healthcare Expenditures, Financing and Actions to Cost Control." This session, held on October 3, focused on interpreting the findings of the Massachusetts Attorney General's Health Care Cost Trends Report.

John Freedman To Facilitate Panel At NAHDO

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 13:21:00 GMT

John Freedman will be facilitating a panel on November 14th at the 5th Annual All Payer Claims Database Conference in Alexandria, Virginia. Dr. Freedman's session, Innovative Uses of APCD for Policy and Market Improvements, will be held from 11:00am-12:30pm. Panelists will tell of their state's recent applications of APCDs, including use of claims data, improving quality, and provider comparisons.

For the APCD agenda, click here. To view the full NAHDO conference agenda, click here. To register, click here.

2011 Massachusetts AGO Hearings

Wed, 20 Jul 2011 18:38:00 GMT

John Freedman testified in June at the 2011 Attorney General's Cost Trends Hearings. He explained his involvement as an expert consultant to the Attorney General's Office in regards to health care quality measurement. Through the help of Freedman HealthCare's data collection and analytics, the AGO was able to draw clear fact-based conclusions about the current state and emerging trends of health care in Massachusetts. Dr. Freedman's full testimony is attached below.
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2011 Attorney General Report Released

Wed, 22 Jun 2011 18:29:00 GMT

The Massachusetts Attorney General's office released their 2011 Annual Report in preparation for the upcoming public hearings. The report is an examination of health care cost trends and drivers. Freedman HealthCare provided consulting expertise including quality of care analysis for this report.

To view a copy of the full report, click the link below:
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The public hearings are being held June 27th - 30th, 2011. For more information click here.

JAAD article published, co-authored by John Freedman.

Thu, 26 May 2011 18:08:00 GMT

The May 2011 publication of the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology contains an article co-authored by Freedman HealthCare’s Principal, John Freedman. Titled, “Physician performance measurement: Tiered networks and dermatology (An opportunity and a challenge)”, the authors explore identifying quality and measuring performance in the dermatological realm of healthcare. They discuss rating physicians and its proper application can support transparency and increase quality in a specialty field. {module_literature,i,87160}

Job Opportunities

Tue, 01 May 2012 14:18:00 GMT

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John Freedman quoted in Worcester Telegram Gazette

Mon, 25 Apr 2011 15:05:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare's principal, John Freedman, was quoted in the Worcester Telegram Gazette on Saturday, April 23rd, 2011. The article focused on the potential partnership of Fallon Clinic and Atrius Health in an effort to improve the quality of care and help control costs. Read the article and Dr. Freedman's perspective here.

John Freedman speaks at MHDC Data Managers and Users Forum

Thu, 27 Jan 2011 15:23:00 GMT

The Massachusetts Health Data Consortium invited John Freedman, MD, principal of Freedman HealthCare, to speak at their Data Managers and Users Forum, held January 11th, 2011.

All Payer Claims Datasets (APCDs) combine inpatient and outpatient claims from multiple payers, resulting in a potentially powerful source of analytic data. Dr. Freedman’s presentation, ‘Measuring and Improving Quality of Care Using All Payer Claims Datasets’, addressed the efforts of states around the country who use their APCDs to measure and improve the delivery of health care. Dr. Freedman also led a discussion on this topic by:
• providing an overview of APCDs
• describing their successes and limitations
• revealing current trends in APCDs across the country
• presenting implications for the state of Massachusetts.

Freedman HealthCare’s All Payer Claims Dataset Services provides customized analytics and support to public-private teams launching consolidated data warehouses and reporting products. Our firm has breadth and depth of knowledge on all payer claims dataset policy, multi-stakeholder program development, and direct experience executing APCD projects for three states (MA, CO and RI).

Freedman HealthCare chosen for Rhode Island's APCD Project

Tue, 28 Dec 2010 16:40:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare has been selected by the Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI) to provide All Payer Claims Database (APCD) Project Management and Execution services as part of the RI Beacon Community Program, an initiative designed to drive positive change in quality, cost efficiency and population health outcomes. RI’s APCD will provide critical information about the impact of the Beacon program on patient’s health status, service utilization and health care expenditures. As the chosen Project Manager for RI, Freedman HealthCare will manage the collaborative development and documentation of the overall APCD project execution plan. In addition, Freedman HealthCare’s APCD team will draft and execute an RFP process for system implementation, reporting and analytics.

For more information on our APCD services, click here.

American College of Rheumatology's 2010 Annual Meeting

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:12:00 GMT

Dr. John Freedman, Principal of Freedman HealthCare, spoke at the American College of Rheumatology's Annual Scientific Meeting in Atlanta, GA on November 11th, 2010. His talk explored payment reform and performance measurement in health care.

15th Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Compassionate Healthcare Dinner

Mon, 22 Nov 2010 18:14:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare was a proud sponsor of the 15th Annual Kenneth B. Schwartz Center Compassionate Healthcare Dinner. Thousands of health care professionals came together to celebrate the important relationship between patients and caregivers.

Please visit their new website: http://www.theschwartzcenter.org/

Boston Young Healthcare Professionals Board Retreat

Wed, 27 Oct 2010 20:45:00 GMT

On October 23, Alison Glastein, Vice President at Freedman HealthCare helped to facilitate the Boston Young Healthcare Professionals (BYHP) first-ever Board Retreat. In response to the growing need for leaders who will continue Massachusetts’ legacy of innovation, BYHP will serve as a forum for young healthcare professionals from all disciplines within the greater Boston healthcare arena to connect, collaborate, and share knowledge and experiences through educational opportunities, professional development, community outreach, and networking events. Alison shared her knowledge of nonprofit board development with BYHP's founding members during a 90 minute round-table discussion.

Freedman HealthCare to help Colorado create a more efficient health care system

Thu, 23 Sep 2010 14:03:00 GMT

Colorado’s Center for Improving Value in Health Care (CIVHC) has selected Freedman HealthCare to provide expertise on planning and implementing an All Payer Claims Database (APCD) Colorado recently passed APCD legislation (HB 1330) and joins approximately a dozen states which have legislation in place, with many others following in their footsteps. The APCD will afford Colorado a deeper understanding of health care cost, quality, and utilization. For more information, check out:

http://www.colorado.gov/cs/Satellite/HCPF/HCPF/1249996141729

Leveraging Profiling within your Organization

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:57:00 GMT

John Freedman, MD, MBA presented Leveraging Profiling within your Organization at the Profsoft University in Las Vegas Nevada. For more information about Profsoft, now part of Thompson Reuters, click here.

Freedman HealthCare becomes member of National Quality Forum

Fri, 17 Sep 2010 02:48:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare becomes one of the newest members of the National Quality Forum, which aims to improve the quality of American healthcare by setting national priorities and goals for performance improvement, endorsing national consensus standards for measuring and publicly reporting on performance, and promoting the attainment of national goals through education and outreach programs. For more information on NQF, visit http://www.qualityforum.org

Are Your Physicians Ready for Reform?

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 20:41:00 GMT

On September 15, 2010 the Freedman HealthCare Change Effectiveness Review (CER) Team participated in the Healthcare Information and Management Society's (HIMSS) first ever virtual conference. This fully interactive national event incorporated online learning, live chat, and active participation in educational sessions. Freedman HealthCare's workshop discussed how reform will bring wrenching changes to organizations, unless they are prepared. Participants in the workshop explored their readiness to become an Accountable Care Organization, with a focus on how prepared their clinical and administrative staffs are for change.

Transitioning a Provider to an Accountable Care Organization

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:15:00 GMT

John Freedman, Principal at Freedman HealthCare joined Dan Housman, Managing Director at Recombinant Data Corp. for an interactive webinar on June 22, 2010. Dr. Freedman began by discussing the need for clinical change that has resulted from payment reform, and shared lessons learned from Massachusetts health care reform so far. Freedman also explored the creation and management of ACOs, the importance of transparency, and potential solutions for providers and ACOs. Housman followed with an in-depth presentation on the role data integration will have on highly functioning ACOs. To access a recording of the webinar, click here.

Best Practices for Healthcare Data Integration

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:15:00 GMT

On June 17, 2010 Freedman HealthCare co-hosted a webinar with BITadvisors, now Kogent, that explored best practices for integrating data from disparate systems to support analytics. The webinar focused on how healthcare reform is intensifying healthcare organizations' need for accurate, agile data management and reporting, as well as methods for data extraction and transformation. Webinar leaders also focused on elements of an effective healthcare data model and analytic solutions that provide physician, nursing, and executive dashboards, departmental scorecards and reports, and ad-hoc analysis. To access a recording of the webinar, click here.

How Did We Get Here? 100 Years in the US Health Care System

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:52:00 GMT

John Freedman, Principal of Freedman HealthCare serves as guest lecturer in Occupational Health Policy and Administration (EH231) at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Examination of Health Care Cost Trends and Cost Drivers

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:16:00 GMT

Freedman HealthCare advised Attorney General Martha Coakley's Office on clinical and market issues related to their examination of health care trends in Massachusetts. John Freedman, MD, testified at the Division of Health Care Finance and Policy Public Hearings held in March 2010, at which time the Attorney General's office released its findings. Click here to download the full report.

Quality Improvement and Qualitative Methods in Quality

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 18:53:00 GMT

John Freedman, MD, MBA served as a Guest Field Project Facilitator for the Quality Improvement and Quantitative Methods in Quality course at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Cost & Effectiveness: Healthcare Reform and its Implications for Pharma & Devices

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 19:15:00 GMT

John Freedman, Principal at Freedman HealthCare served as an expert speaker as part of an FX Conference series on cost and effectiveness. His session provided an overview of health care reform by understanding Massachusetts reform as a likely model. Dr. Freedman outlined how such changes are likely to impact clinicians, as well as medical suppliers, and outlined key macro trends related to performance measurement, improvement, efficiency and cost containment. For transcripts of the webinar, click here.

Practicing Medicine in a Changing Health Care Environment

Tue, 28 Sep 2010 19:03:00 GMT

As a member of the faculty for the Tufts Health Care Institute's Practicing Medicine in a Changing Health Care Environment, John Freedman, MD, MBA presented two sessions. In addition to providing an Introduction to the US Health Care System: An Historical Overview, Dr. Freedman conducted a session on Contemporary Health Insurance. For more information about the Tufts Health Care Institute, click here.