Page 104 - Cityview Jan-Feb 2017

102JANUARY FEBRUARY 2017taste the differencediscover the purity and goodness of artesian spring water delivered to your home or office* Filtered, Ozonated Spring Water * Bottles and Coolers* Coffee Service* DeliverySmoky Mountain WaterToll Free: 1.800.992.8376 * Local: 865.546.1583www.SmokyMountainWater.netAGING SPOTLIGHTlarge tab of surgeries and rehabilitative treatments. The bundled model puts the pressure on the doctors to their absolute best using only the most necessary modes of treatment.Care for patients who su er heart attacks was $6 billion in 2014 alone; bundled care seeks to address and mitigate those costs. Previously, the CMS theorized that the current model of payment for treatment places the incentive in treating the quantity of services, rather than quality of care. According to their own research,past treatment of patients hasbeen fragmented, prolonged, and unnecessary as a result of the current payment options.What Medicare’s trial with bundling seems to indicate is that we are working on ways to make healthcare more a ordable and to make surethat everyone—especially our aging community—is able to get the care they need. Bundling takes as a rst step determining which treatments are necessary; from this starting point, proponents of bundling make claims that it can eliminate unneeded costs, individualize care, and boost quality of treatment. Exploring bundled care is following a good impulse. We shall see over the next ve years how wellit works, and if Medicare chooses to expand it.