By Rob Geyer, Chief Executive Officer of Reta Trust May 2018 – The top stories in American healthcare continue to focus on our ever-increasing healthcare costs—costs that are nearly double those of other high-income countries while outcomes fall short on many population health measures[1]. And with no end to this upward spiral in sight, employers… Read more »
Healthcare Musings
Healthcare Cost Reduction in 2018 – Driven by Technology
By Beth M. Griffin, Chief Marketing and Product Officer at HPS April 2018 – Innovative employers understand that as markets change and costs rise, they must be discerning in their approach to business finances. As these business leaders work to understand what drives up costs, one thing is clear: companies will have to get smarter about… Read more »
Continuous Monitoring Data: A Key to Patient Safety
By John Zaleski, Chief Analytics Officer of Bernoulli Enterprise, Inc. March 2018 – In high-acuity patient settings, data often speak for the patient, particularly those that are unconscious, recuperating from invasive surgical procedures, or heavily sedated on pain medication. Yet, of the 40 million plus surgeries performed annually in the United States, a significant potential threat… Read more »
The Dream of Healthcare Consumerism: How to Avoid It Being a Nightmare
By Scott Herbst, SVP at Availity February 2018 – Healthcare consumerism has become an increasingly important focus for healthcare organizations as deductibles have risen in conventional health plans and as high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) have spread. Usually tied to health savings accounts, HDHPs incentivize consumers to make informed and judicious decisions about the healthcare services… Read more »
The Undervalued and Misunderstood Healthcare Supply Chain
By Joe Walsh, Founder at Supply Chain Sherpas January 2018 – Healthcare is experiencing profound macro pressures including revenue compression, growing consumerism, rapid provider consolidation, population health strategies, payor-provider integrations and the emergence of many non-traditional disrupters and competitors. Aggressive cost reduction targets inevitably become a large component of a multi-faceted strategic response to these pressures…. Read more »
The Relationship between Artificial Intelligence and Healthcare: Why It’s Complicated and Why Robot Doctors Aren’t Our Future
By David Lareau, CEO of Medicomp Systems December 2017 – If you use Facebook, you’re likely aware of the option to designate your current relationship status. In addition to mainstream choices such as single, married, and in a relationship, Facebook has a choice called “It’s complicated” – which sounds like a pretty good label for… Read more »
CVS-Aetna Merger: Great for Shareholders and Catastrophic for Consumers
By Thomas Borzilleri, Founder & CEO of InteliSys Health November 2017 – The rumored $66 billion merger of retail pharmacy CVS and health insurer Aetna holds strong potential to inflict financial pain on American patients by artificially inflating prescription drug prices while reducing transparency and competition. The Aetna-CVS deal is the latest in an ongoing… Read more »
Healthcare’s Holy Grail: Will Telehealth Fulfill the Quest?
By Brooke LeVasseur, CEO of AristaMD October 2017 – The U.S. health system today is facing unprecedented demands – from decreasing reimbursements to ever-changing regulations to the transition from fee-for-service reimbursement to value-based care models. Yet, amidst it all, healthcare stakeholders still need to achieve the holy grail of healthcare: higher quality care — at… Read more »
Should the Government Subsidize Healthcare Data Security?
by Darin Brannan, CEO of ClearDATA September 2017 – The 2009 HITECH Act ignited a profound shift in how providers document our health, taking us from paper-based charting to electronic health records in just a few short years. Although the success of the legislation’s original intention—to make the sharing of medical records infinitely easier—is still up… Read more »
Payer Power
by Dave Bennett, EVP at Orion Health August 2017 – Because of the wealth of information found in claims data—bills for service, lab work, medications, prescriptions, and more—today’s payer has a unique longitudinal view of the patient’s complete medical history. This puts the payer in a unique position for understanding the finer points of the patient’s health… Read more »