Sg2 Blog

Understanding the Transition: ACO REACH Replaces Current Direct Contracting Model On February 24, 2022, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) announced the ACO REACH (Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health) Model, with an application period ending April 22, 2022. ACO REACH will replace the current Direct Contracting Model (DC) on January 1, 2023, as the highest level of...

In our previous post, we discussed health inequities in our current health care landscape, providing some examples of how the negative impacts of social determinants of health can contribute to undesirable health outcomes and lead to significant health disparities. Now, we would like to focus on how health systems can be more aware of these disparities and turn that awareness into action. Health e...

This post was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. In today’s rapidly expanding direct-to-employer contracting sphere, it is of critical importance that employers understand the entire value equation. Too often, an employer’s focus is solely on a discount off what they are currently spending on a per-unit basis and doesn’t consider the myr...

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. Most health care services volumes are poised for a rapid recovery from the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, a shift in where care is delivered that began before the pandemic has only accelerated and is particularly impacting emergency department demand. Even while the Sg2 ...

Editor’s note: This post was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. For most of 2020, COVID-19 disrupted and significantly altered the infrastructure of the world’s industries, including health care delivery and services. But at what level can we expect health care to return to pre-pandemic levels? What are the long-term effects of the pandemic ev...

Editor’s note: this post was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. Frustrated with high costs, a growing number of self-insured companies are considering going in a different direction: contracting directly with high-performing health systems for their employees’ specialty care. Aiming for healthier, more productive employees and lower costs, ind...

Nearly 16 years ago, I made the fortuitous choice to join a small but mighty team of health care change agents at a company called Sg2. In a conference room in Skokie, IL, Sg2’s founder, the late Michael Sachs, addressed a team of about 20 new hires (representing about 20 percent of the rapidly growing company) with what I came to understand was his everyday passion: health care and our need...

The outpatient shift is changing the high reliability paradigm for health care organizations. What historically has been an acute care and IP focus will need to expand across the enterprise as the locus of care moves away from hospitals and into diffuse ambulatory and home settings. More sites of care, workforce challenges and higher disease complexity have led to increased risk and more obstacl...

Medicare’s new Enhancing Oncology Model (EOM) is an important opportunity for oncology practices to participate in a voluntary alternative payment model (APM) designed to increase the value of care for Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) patients undergoing chemotherapy. This five-year model not only builds on the Oncology Care Model (OCM) and offers incentives to manage care while reducing spend...

Editor’s note: Joe Cummings, PhD, Vizient Technology Program Director, authored this post, which was originally published on Sg2’s parent company Vizient Inc’s blog. The COVID-19 pandemic has had a significant effect on our country’s most vulnerable populations, from who gets the SARS-CoV-2 virus to its impact on mental health and access to care. For example, the pandemic ...