e-CareManagement Blog
Archives for e-CareManagement Blog (2006-2021)
Will Google Health Platformize the Electronic Health Record Market?
by Vince Kuraitis, Edward G. Anderson, and Geoffrey Parker
The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated calls for the development of EHR 2.0 (electronic health record 2.0) – the next generation of EHRs with extended platform features and capabilities.
Who will answer this call? While existing EHR vendors have made modest efforts, the door is open for big tech companies and start-ups to develop functionality to envelop and disintermediate current EHRs. We highlight early efforts by Google Health Care Studio as having the potential to bring platform functionality to a sector of the healthcare industry known for resistance to change and innovation.
Read the full article in The Health Care Blog.
Do Virtual Care Platforms Compete With Local Care Providers? It’s Complicated
by Vince Kuraitis and Thomas Wilson, Ph.D
We describe eight ways in which virtual care platforms (VCPs) are “potentially” competitive with local care providers:
1) Low Acuity/Episodic Care
2) Virtual Primary Care
3) Specialist Care
4) Chronic Disease Management
5) Second Opinions
6) Specialized Populations/Conditions
7) “Selling Ammunition to the Enemy”
8) […]
Healthcare Delivery Disrupted? The Rise Of Platforms In Healthcare
by Seth Joseph and Vince Kuraitis
If the taxi industry was so easily disrupted by platform businesses, could the healthcare industry be next? Are there characteristics these two industries share (or distinguish them from each other) that can help us understand the role platforms can play in healthcare? And why does it make sense to ask these questions now?
Seth Joseph and I address these questions in our Forbes article “Healthcare Delivery Disrupted: The Rise of Platforms in Healthcare“.
Will Virtual Care Platforms (VCPs) Become Healthcare’s Mega-Platforms?
by Vince Kuraitis and Seth Joseph
Let’s start with a pop quiz. Take 15 seconds to look at the list below, asking yourself the question “What do all these have in common?”
address booksvideo cameraspagerswristwatchesmapsbookstravelgamesflashlightshome telephonescash registersMP3 playersDay timers
alarm clocksanswering machinesThe Yellow Pageswalletskeystransistor radiospersonal digital assistantsdashboard navigation systemsnewspapers and magazinesdirectory assistancetravel and insurance agentsrestaurant guidespocket calculators
The commonality is that all of these were disrupted by smartphones and their operating system (OS) platforms — Google Android and Apple iOS.
Let’s […]
Slide Presentation: Patient Data Sharing–NOT Hoarding–is the New Normal
PowerPoint slides from the opening keynote of the virtual conference: Health Data Unbound — Innovations in Health Data Sharing.
The Business Case for Health Data Sharing
Day-by-day, the business case for data sharing is growing stronger. In this essay, I’ll describe how COVID-19 is accelerating existing healthcare trends, how data sharing is becoming a key business strategy, and how you can learn more about these developments.
COVID-19 Accelerates Existing Trends
This might surprise you — one result of COVID-19 isn’t so much a new normal as it is the acceleration of pre-existing trends. Andreasen Horowitz venture capitalist Julie Yoo wrote about this in her masterful article: Healthcare: The Great Unlock.
She lists […]
Health Data Unbound Virtual Conference
While there have been many events on interoperability and data sharing, what’s unique here is our focus on the BUSINESS rationale for health data sharing.
Contact Tracing: 10 Unique Challenges of COVID-19
10 challenges of COVID-19 contact tracing.
Health Data Outside HIPAA: Simply Extending HIPAA Would Be a #FAIL
Health Data Outside HIPAA: Simply Extending HIPAA Would Be a #FAIL
Protecting Health Data Outside of HIPAA: Will the Protecting Personal Health Data Act Tame the Wild West ?
Congress is seriously considering bipartisan legislation — the “Protecting Personal Health Data Act” — to better protect the privacy of consumers’ personal data.
Health Data Outside HIPAA: The Wild West of Unprotected Personal Data
The average patient will, in his or her lifetime, generate about 2,750 times more data related to social and environmental influences than to clinical factors.
Pending Federal Privacy Legislation: A Status Update
The buzz around federal privacy legislation continues, but as of yet there appear to be no proposals or bills that have emerged as the lead bills.
Despite the perceived lack of movement of current bills, the ticking clock on the California Consumer Privacy Act (CCPA) suggests this issue is quite live in Congress, albeit less visible to most of us.
New Series on THCB — The Health Data Goldilocks Dilemma: Privacy? Sharing? Both?
The Goldilocks Dilemma has U.S. policymakers driving toward two seemingly conflicting goals:
1) Broader data interoperability and data sharing, and
2) Enhanced data privacy and data protection.
For Your Radar — Huge Implications for Healthcare in Pending Privacy Legislation
The U.S. Congress is considering broad privacy and data protection legislation in 2019. There is some bipartisan support and a strong possibility that legislation will be passed. Federal privacy legislation would have a huge impact on all healthcare stakeholders, including patients.
WSJ Article on MD Referrals & Leakage: Beware of Premature Conclusions
The question we should be asking is “How can we best align the interests of patients, physicians and hospital systems in referral decisions?”
The answer sometimes might be to make a referral outside of the hospital system — but let’s not jump to premature conclusions.
Data from Connected Medical Devices: 5 Benefits
Why Healthcare Needs the Internet of Things
Guest Post by Abbas Dhilawala, Chief Technology Officer, Galen Data
The IoT consists of smart objects or devices with cloud connectivity capabilities — devices that can perform a function, collect data and transmit that data to a network where it can be used by humans to accomplish a goal. IoT devices are appearing everywhere in society, from the industrial supply chain to automated cars, but one of the most important applications for the IoT […]
Hoarding Patient Data is a Lousy Business Strategy: 7 Reasons Why
In the video below, Dr. Harlan Krumholz of Yale University School of Medicine capsulizes the rationale of hoarding as business strategy:
We encourage you to take a minute to listen to Dr. Krumholz, but if you’re in a hurry we’ve abstracted the most relevant portions of his comments:
“The leader of a very major healthcare system said this to me confidentially on the phone… ‘why would we want to make it easy for people to get their health data…we want to keep […]
The Biggest Trend You’ve Probably Never Heard Of: A Status Report on 138 Healthcare ICOs
You’ve probably heard of Bitcoin, but we doubt you’ve heard of Dentacoin, MedTokens, or Curecoin.
These are healthcare specific cryptocurrencies born from Initial Coin Offerings or ICOs.
Over on The Health Care Blog, my colleague Robert Miller and I have written an article analyzing financial returns of 138 healthcare ICOs.
The results are enlightening, but disappointing. Here are a few headlines:
122 healthcare ICOs are not exchange-listed
16 healthcare ICOs are listed on one or more exchanges
Of these 16, 5 show a positive financial return since the date […]
The Second Annual Healthcare Blockchain Summit, Boston, June 11-12
Click here for more info. Use discount code 68 to receive $100 off.
Hope to see you there!
Vince
PatientPing, Platforms, and Health Care Transformation
It’s challenging, rewarding and fun to be an ongoing advisor to early-stage companies like PatientPing!
PatientPing is an incredibly promising company developing platforms for health care system collaboration and transformation. Late last year they received a Series B round of $31.6 M, with investors to-date having included Andreesen Horowitz, Leerink Transformation Partners, Google Ventures, SV Capital, and Fidelity FPrime Capital.
I was recently interviewed by Marketing Manager Laura Bresnahan for a “Four Questions Series” blog post. The four questions addressed are:
Do you […]
Presentation Slides: Strategy & Business Models in Healthcare Blockchains
Here’s a copy of my slides from my keynote presentation at The Healthcare Blockchain Summit in Washington D.C. The presentation is titled:
Blockchains in Healthcare: Transforming Strategy & Business Models?
After reviewing some industry background and analysis of trends, consider 7 key implications:
Beware of “yellow flag” blockchain tech terminology: “could”, “possible”, “promising”.
Digital strategy is different than industrial era business strategy.
IMO, the most likely scenario for blockchain tech in healthcare is slow, steady growth over the next decade. After critical mass […]
Healthcare Blockchain Summit, DC, March 20-21
Blockchain technology is poised to transform healthcare services and business models. Learn from the leaders who are creating the blockchain future. Discover how to implement pilot projects and applications that improve quality, reduce the cost of healthcare services and clinical trials, promote interoperability, and enhance security.
Over 40 Speakers, Including:
Christian Catalini, PhD, Fred Kayne (1960) Career Development Professor of Entrepreneurship & Assistant Professor of Technological Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Strategic Management, MIT Sloan School of Management
Kyle Culver, Solution Architect, Humana
Jason Goldwater, Senior […]
Diagnostic Accuracy Scores: Physicians 84%, Computer Algorithms 51%
A recent study in JAMA Internal Medicine reported on the diagnostic accuracy of physicians vs. computer algorithms. The study compared the performance of one computer symptom checker app to the text based answers of 234 physicians, 90% of whom were general internists. You can read a summary here.
JAMA IM study: MDs vastly outperformed computer algorithms in diagnostic accuracy–84% v 51% correcthttps://t.co/hfVJYA9rgu #digitalhealth
— Vince Kuraitis (@VinceKuraitis) December 30, 2016
Twitter commentators had a lot to say about […]
Oscar’s Narrow Network Strategy: Will it Work?
Writing in Vox, Sarah Kliff describes VC-backed health plan Oscar’s latest twist on strategy:
Oscar’s hope is that it can take narrow networks to the next level; rather than simply cutting costs, Oscar wants to use a narrow network to improve patient experience by deeply integrating with the hospitals and doctors it works with.
Is this the right strategic approach for Oscar? It depends.
Healthcare’s Transformation into the “Pinnacle” Platform Industry
A “Platform Revolution” is sweeping America. Platforms like Google, Facebook, Amazon, Apple, and Airbnb are turning existing industries inside-out and creating new landscapes never yet dreamed of.
…but healthcare hasn’t been affected much…yet. Below, I’ll briefly explain:
Why healthcare has been slow to adopt platforms
What’s changing
Why in the long-run healthcare promises to become the pinnacle platform industry.
Read the rest of this story on Tincture…
If I Describe Your Company as the “Uber of Healthcare”, Don’t Take It as a Compliment. 7 Reasons Why.
I am constantly surprised by the number of companies that intentionally describe themselves as the “Uber of Healthcare”. If you hear me describing your company that way, I don’t mean it as a compliment. What I do mean is some combination of:
Your ethics and values are dubious
Your swashbuckling disregard for regulatory boundaries is backfiring
You underestimated the competition
Your network effects are overstated
Your platform governance model is Medieval
Your business model is unproven
Your valuation is inflated
Let’s take a more detailed look at each […]
MIT Platform Strategy Summit, Boston, July 10
Healthcare has been a laggard in adopting platforms…
…but that’s rapidly changing. In fact, I’ll suggest that healthcare will become the PINNACLE platform industry.
Why?
Many value propositions are very strong — literally “life-or-death”.
Acute and episodic care has focused on relatively discrete, time-limited events; the emerging model of chronic care and population health requires ongoing collaboration among care providers and patients.
Many of the value propositions of digital health are dependent upon development of interoperable platforms. For example, non-interoperable platforms would NOT work for:
The […]
ONC Report on Health Information Blocking: A Solid Double, But NOT a Home Run
A Stand Up Double
By Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA
Last Friday ONC (the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT) released a long-awaited Report On Health Information Blocking. The ONC blog capsulizes the report:
Health information blocking occurs when persons or entities knowingly and unreasonably interfere with the exchange or use of electronic health information. Our report examines the known extent of information blocking, provides criteria for identifying and distinguishing it from other barriers […]
Apple ResearchKit is Open Source, But is it “Open”?
For now, the answer is “we don’t know”.
But… the question is very important and worth tracking over the coming months. Let’s not assume that open source will equate to “open”.
7 Questions Are Shaping the Patient Digital Health Platform Ecosystem — HIN Article
My article “Seven Questions Shaping the Patient Digital Health Platform Ecosystem” is published in the February 2015 issue of Healthcare Innovation News.
You can download a copy of the article by clicking here.
Accompanying PowerPoint slides are available here.
The “Shake the Winter Blahs” Edition of Health Wonk Review
It’s the middle of winter. Feeling blah? Need some stimulation? You’ve come to the right place!
Welcome to The “Shake the Winter Blahs” Edition of the Health Wonk review. For the second time, it’s my honor to host HWR — providing you summaries and links to the best recent writing in the health blogosphere. Let’s go!
Federal Health Policy
At the Health Affairs Blog, Princeton professor Uwe Reinhardt jumps off from the recent controversy about Jonathan Gruber’s remarks describing the American public as […]
PowerPoint — 7 Questions Shaping the Patient Digital Health Platform (PDHP) Ecosystem
I hope you’ll enjoy reviewing my slides from my December 3 presentation at the 11th Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference.
The presentation is formally entitled: “Patient Digital Health Platforms (PDHPs): Epicenter of Healthcare Transformation?”…
…but more informally, I pose and address 7 key questions — the answers to which will shape the future of the PDHP ecosystem. The answers aren’t all that clear yet because it’s very early and because most of the companies involved haven’t yet shared a lot of details about […]
ACO Lessons Learned: Revisiting the Timing of Downside Risk
The editor and publisher of Accountable Care News have been generous in allowing me to republish my article from the November 2014 issue.
Click here to download a .pdf copy of the article. It’s in-depth — about 2,000 words.
Here’s the article in a nutshell:
One of the most critical aspects of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) ACO has been around the timing and certainty of requiring mandatory downside financial risk for physician and hospital participants. Provider protests cajoled CMS […]
11th Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference, San Diego, December 3-4
December 3-4, 2014
San Diego, CA
Technology-Enabled Consumer Engagement & Behavior Change
Register by November 17th to receive a $100 early bird discount.
The Healthcare Unbound Conference will focus on technology-enabled consumer engagement and behavior change.
Technologies to be discussed include wearables, mHealth, remote monitoring, eHealth and social media.
Moving beyond just a “cool technology” focus, this event will offer practical approaches for healthcare stakeholders and digital health companies. The program will address the reasons that the sustained adoption of digital health […]
ThoughtLeaders: Prognosis for Medicare and Commercial ACOs
A number of pundits are citing the systemic failure of ACOs, after additional Pioneer ACOs announced withdrawal from the program – Where do you weigh in on the prognosis for Medicare and Commercial ACOs over the next several years?”
Republished courtesy of MCOL
Mark Lutes Chair, Board of Directors, Epstein Becker & Green, P.C.
Certainly, if we dial back the rhetoric and the expectations for immediate system -wide transformation, we can expect accountable care organizations to make a contribution […]
Population Health POV — “It’s About Patient Data”
As a member of the Editorial Board of Population Health News, I was asked to provide some personal perspectives for the October 2014 issue.
Here’s a quick sample:
Optimal population health will depend on obtaining and applying the “right” data — data to analyze individuals and populations, discern patterns, predict high risk/cost patients, enable needed behavior change or interventions and measure and monitor progress.
You can read the full interview by clicking here.
Editorial Advisory Board–Population Health News
Peter Edelstein, M.D.
Chief Medical Officer
LexisNexis Risk Solutions, […]
BCBSIL Refuses to Negotiate Jointly With “Affiliated” Providers. Now What?
Tensions between health plans and care providers have taken an fascinating turn in Chicago. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois (BCBSIL) is refusing to allow care providers “affiliated” through a clinical integration agreement to negotiate contracts jointly.
The ramifications for future network contracts are significant and could play out very differently in other health care markets.
Background
In February 2014 Advocate Health Care and Silver Cross Hospital announced a clinical integration affiliation agreement. Advocate is the state’s largest hospital network and Silver Cross […]
Penguins are Jumping…Payment Reform is Leaping!
[callout]…(The) 2014 National Scorecard on Payment Reform tells us 40 percent of commercial sector payments to doctors and hospitals now flow through value-oriented payment methods, defined as payment methods designed to improve quality and reduce waste. This is a dramatic increase since 2013 when the figure was just 11 percent. Suzanne Delbanco, Executive Director of CPR, in the Health Affairs blog.[/callout]
I’ve written before about what economists call “The Penguin Problem” — No one moves unless everyone moves, so no one […]
Will Apple’s Strategic Beachhead Be Doctors, Not Patients?
Last week Apple held a huge media event to announce forthcoming products, including the iPhone 6, 6+ and Apple Watch. Many of us in the healthcare world had been sitting on the edge our seats, hopefully awaiting news detailing Apple’s broader strategy in entering healthcare. We were disappointed — no mention of Apple HealthKit, no doctors on the main stage, only a few teasers about how the Watch might be used in fitness and health monitoring.
Apple is a consumer technology […]
Swiss Cheese Health Insurance? “Benefits Adequacy” Moves To Front & Center
Ending insurance discrimination against the sick was a central goal of the nation’s health care overhaul, but leading patient groups say that promise is being undermined by new barriers from insurers. The Washington Post
In the past year, network adequacy has been one of the hot button issues for Qualified Health Plans (QHPs) in the Federal health insurance exchange. Network adequacy has focused on access to care providers and the narrow networks used […]
Patient Digital Health Platforms…A First Take
This post was originally published on the HIMSS blog with the title “Patient Digital Health Platforms (PDHPs): An Epicenter of Healthcare Transformation?”
Apple’s recent announcement about its HealthKit platform is a beacon of a much bigger trend. We are at the early stages in the rise of a new business and IT ecosystem:
Patient Digital Health Platforms (PDHPs)
These new platforms should be high on the radar screens of healthcare providers. While v1.0 of PDHPs is starting fairly narrow, companies will be highly […]
MCOL Thought Leaders: Implications of Narrow Networks
ow far will the trend towards narrower health plan networks go – and what are the implications?”
Alexander Domaszewicz
Principal,
Mercer
ACA legislation put many guardrails on health program design – premium cost sharing must be affordable based on percent of pay and cost sharing through design requires at least a 60% value plan. Narrow networks are one of the few areas that insurers and program sponsors still have left to positively impact cost […]
Open.Epic: A (Not So Open) API
Last week EHR vendor Epic unveiled it’s new API (application programming interface) targeted at developers — more specifically at remote patient monitoring companies and health/wellness apps or portals. Epic seems to have had second thoughts about the site since only remnants of the landing page are still there as of today.
The Latest Health Wonk Review at Healthcare Talent Transformation
“Will a government shutdown stop ObamaCare?” and many other timely topics are reviewed in the latest edition of the Health Wonk review.
Healthcare Transformation: Coping With the Neutral Zone
I’m being asked the same series of questions a lot lately: Do you think the changes occurring in US healthcare are real? Are we truly moving away from rewarding volume of care under fee-for-service (FFS) and toward value-based payment and delivery? Are the changes past the point of no return? Will the economic interests of the powers-that-be prevent real change from happening, just as they have done in the past?
Healthcare Social Media: Real Engagement or Fluff?
Would your personal experiences and observations of healthcare social media indicate that real engagement is generally occurring, or to-date Is it mostly just promotion and marketing “fluff” that is being facilitated – and how can healthcare engagement objectives be better met?
Healthcare Unbound PowerPoint Presentation: “Replatforming Healthcare”
The Rules are changing. Eight new rules are guiding healthcare disruptors…
10th Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference, Denver, July 11/12
This nationally recognized conference and exhibition focuses on technology-enabled consumer engagement and behavior change. Topics to be covered included innovative applications of remote monitoring, home telehealth, mHealth, eHealth, social media and gaming to help manage diseases, promote wellness and facilitate accountable care.
My Health Information Should PRECEDE Me, Not Just Follow Me
To state the obvious, there are times when the value of information depends on timing. Sometimes information needs to be provided in advance.
Quiz: Is Healthcare Next on the List?
What do address books, video cameras, pagers, wristwatches, maps, books, travel games, flashlights, home telephones, cash registers, Walkmen, day timers, alarm clocks, answering machines, The Yellow Pages, wallets, keys, transistor radios, personal digital assistants, dashboard navigation systems, newspapers and magazines, directory assistance, travel and insurance agents, restaurant guides and pocket calculators all have in common?
Health Wonk Review at Managed Care Matters
The latest and best on the healthcare blogosphere is featured on Joe Paduda’s blog — Managed Care Matters.
3 Critical Elements of Clinical Collaboration
A colleague recently wrote to me and asked me my definition of “collaboration”.
Editorial: A Duty to Share Patient Information
by Vince Kuraitis and Leslie Kelly Hall, Senior Vice President, Policy, Healthwise.
The sharing of patient information in the US is out of whack — we lean far too much toward hoarding information vs. sharing it. While care providers have an explicit duty to protect patient confidentiality and privacy, two things are missing:
the explicit recognition of a corollary duty to share patient information with other providers when doing so is the patient’s interests, and
a recognition that there is potential tension between […]
Universal American: A “Healthy Collaboration”
By Gregg A. Masters, MPH; originally posted at ACO Watch
I intended to post updates from Aetna and Cigna next in this series, yet today I received a tweet by Vince Kuraitis, aka @VinceKuraitis, calling attention to Universal American a managed care player I’ve not spent much time on. Yet they present a rather interesting profile and operating footprint some of which I will highlight below. According to their website Universal American (UAM):
…provides health benefits to people with Medicare. We are […]
ACOs: We’re NOT There Yet
by Brian Klepper
On The Health Care Blog, veteran analyst Vince Kuraitis reviews a report from the consulting firm Oliver Wyman (OW), arguing that the trend toward reconfiguring health systems to deliver more accountable care is more widespread than any of us suspect.
“The healthcare world has only gotten serious about accountable care organizations in the past two years, but it is already clear that they are well positioned to provide a serious competitive threat […]
ACOs: Are We “There” Yet?
A recent analysis of the ACO market by Oliver Wyman market suggests we’re well on our way toward being “there”.
My personal take on this report:
Provocative, fresh, thoughtful, well reasoned, expansive — albeit a bit of a stretch
However, I suspect many others will describe it as:
Speculative, harebrained, unsupported, overly extrapolative, out-to-lunch, wishful to the point of being woo woo
So now that I hopefully have your attention, what’s this report all about? In a nutshell:
The healthcare world has […]
Are Hospital Business Models on a Burning Platform? Not Yet, But It’s Inevitable.
From reading recent headlines, one might easily get the impression that hospitals are resistant — or at least ambivalent — in their pursuit and adoption of accountable care initiatives.
Are Hospitals Dragging their Feet on Accountable Care?
Commonwealth Fund: “only 13 percent of hospital respondents reported participating in an ACO or planning to participate within a year”
KPMG Survey: “(only) 27 percent of [health system] respondents said current business models were either not very or not at all sustainable over the next five […]
Physicians Shouldn’t Wait for Big Data: “Small Data” Can Jumpstart Your Care Management Program
by David C. Kibbe MD, MBA and Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA
Everywhere we turn these days it seems “Big Data” is being touted as a solution for physicians and physician groups who want to participate in Accountable Care Organizations, (ACOs) and/or accountable care-like contracts with payers. We disagree, and think the accumulated experience about what works and what doesn’t work for care management suggests that a “Small Data” approach might be good enough for many medical groups, while being more immediately […]
Hospitals…Thinking About Getting Into Health Insurance? 6 Reasons To Lie Down Until the Urge Goes Away.
Greg Masters reports on a recent Kaiser Health News article: Hospitals Look to Become Insurers, As Well as Providers of Care”.
This is the dumbest idea I’ve heard since “I’m going to invest all my money in Facebook’s IPO and get rich!”
Here are six reasons why:
e-Newsletter Archives
Archives for e-CareManagement News (1999-2006)
Commentary – Lifemasters Pulls the Plug on Oklahoma Medicare Health Support Project
Christobel Selecky, Executive Chairman of Lifemasters, announced yesterday that Lifemasters was ending participation in its Oklahoma Medicare Health Support (MHS) project. The announcement was made to an audience at the Care Continuum Congress held in Washington, D.C.
The Next Big Thing – Hospital at Home
I hereby predict the Next Big Thing is hospital at home (HAH).
How do I know this? My primary source is my wife, Jill. Both of our children — now age 18 and 21 — were born by C-section during the golden era of indemnity insurance. I remember Jill practically begging her doctor to get the insurance company to authorize a few extra days in the hospital so that she could rest and recover.
I asked her how she would handle that […]
Will Physicians Collaborate or Compete with DM Companies?
Doctors, before you get mad, let me acknowledge that the word “compete” isn’t in most physicians’ vocabularies. Doctors relate much more to a culture rooted in service and professionalism rather than business competition.
The medical home concept being advanced by primary care physicians could wind up competing with disease management (DM) companies. Ironically, this occurs at a time when most DM companies are picking up the pace of improving relationships and communications with doctors.
While the medical home model isn’t new, it […]
Resources and Commentaries – Medicare’s Chronic Care Improvement RFP
It’s the event of the year — if not the decade — for U.S. organizations involved in disease management or chronic care. On April 23 the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a request for proposal (RFP) inviting organizations to bid on Chronic Care Improvement pilot projects under Section 721 of the Medicare Modernization Act.
While the RFP has generally been viewed very positively, there are many potential pitfalls, particularly for organizations that do not have significant experience at […]
Audioconference an Update on Medicare’s Chronic Care Improvement Program
Please participate in Tuesday’s audioconference on the new Medicare Chronic Care Improvement Program! fyi, you can review my PowerPoint presentation Strategies for Winning a Contract: The CMS Chronic Care Improvement Phase I RFP.
Best of health,
Vince Kuraitis
Principal
Better Health Technologies, LLC
Press Release:
CMS Provides Update on the New Medicare Chronic Care Improvement Program in National Disease Management Audioconference
Tuesday, May 25, 2004
1:00 pm – 2:30 pm (Eastern)
12:00 pm – 1:30 pm (Central)
11:00 am – 12:30 pm (Mountain)
10:00 am – 11:30 am (Pacific)
Press Release
Contact: Paul […]
The View Down the Road – Baby Boomers Will Benefit From “Healthcare Unbound” Technologies
Forrester Research recently coined the term “Healthcare Unbound” to encompass the technology-enabled shift toward self-care, mobile care, and home care. The Center for Aging Services Technologies recently facilitated a demo day for members of Congress and showed examples of “Healthcare Unbound” technologies beginning to enter the marketplace.
Skeptics might point out that “If you look in the rearview mirror at the road we’ve traveled over in the past few years, consumer technologies haven’t had much on impact on health care.”
….and they […]
E-CareManagement News
Disease Management News Reprint
Expect Greater Use of eHealth in DM in 2004
7 Key Trends Focus on Integration of Technologies,
Convergence of Devices
1) Cost Management Will Continue to Be the Primary Driver of DM Technology Adoption
2) Predictive Modeling Technologies Will Focus on “Impactability”
3) Information and Communication Technologies Will Enable DM Assembling as a Viable Business Strategy
4) Consumer Electronics Giants Will Bring DM into the Living Room
5) Remote Patient Monitoring and Wireless Technologies Will Enable “Healthcare Unbound”
6) Personalization Technologies Will Allow Patients to […]
“Expect Greater Use of eHealth in DM in 2004 – 7 Key Trends Focus on Integration of Technologies, Convergence of Devices” Disease Management News Reprint
Cost Management Will Continue to Be the Primary Driver of DM Technology Adoption
Predictive Modeling Technologies Will Focus on “Impactability”
Information and Communication Technologies Will Enable DM Assembling as a Viable Business Strategy
Consumer Electronics Giants Will Bring DM into the Living Room
Remote Patient Monitoring and Wireless Technologies Will Enable “Healthcare Unbound”
Personalization Technologies Will Allow Patients to “Have It Your Way”
The Electronic Health Record Will Break From the Pack
We hope you enjoy the digital reprint article (Adobe Acrobat format):
This article appeared in the […]
Evidence-Based Medicine is Pivotal in Advancing Care Management
Evidence-based Medicine and Managed Care: Applications, Challenges, Opportunities
Results of a National Program to Assess Emerging Applications of Evidence-based Medicine to Medical Management Strategies in Managed Care
Vanderbilt Center for Evidence-based Medicine, December 2003
Health plans touch all facets of healthcare and therefore have a unique opportunity to stimulate adherence to evidence-based practices….The purpose of this program was to explore how managed care is applying principles and concepts of evidence-based medicine to its delicate balancing of cost and quality management.
Some of the key […]
Today’s Great Idea – The Continuity of Care Record
While attending the Mobile Healthcare Alliance meeting earlier this month in Minneapolis, I was introduced to a brilliant, yet simple concept — the Continuity of Care Record (CCR).
The usefulness of the CCR struck me like a BFO — a blinding flash of the obvious. Two speakers — Peter Waegemann, CEO of the Medical Records Institute, and Claudia Tessier, Executive Director of the Mobile Healthcare Alliance — eloquently described and advocated for the CCR.
The CCR is a concept quietly being developed […]
Healthcare Unbound: Convergence of Consumer and Healthcare Technologies
The Opportunity
Consumer healthcare technologies are driving opportunities to serve patients in new ways and in new settings. Forrester Research recently coined the term “Healthcare Unbound” to encompass the trends toward self care, mobile care, and home care. More specifically, Forrester Research describes Healthcare Unbound as “technology in, on and around the body that frees care from formal institutions.”
In addition to dramatically changing traditional healthcare delivery, Healthcare Unbound attracts a range of companies that previously have not been deeply involved in […]
Sustaining E-Health in Challenging Times
Report on the Fourth Annual eHealth Developers’ Summit, April 2003
This report summarizes the discussions held during the Third Annual eHealth Developers’ Summit in November 2002. Some key findings include:
Consumers and health care organizations are perceived to be the major eHealth players in the short-term, but government influence on eHealth seems to be increasing.
Consumers, with few exceptions, are still unwilling to pay for online health information or services, thus consumer-oriented eHealth products will need to incorporate incentives in their business models […]
Change Your Thinking About Heart Disease and Cancer
Stereotypes of two medical conditions — heart disease and cancer — are changing. Recent stories in The New York Times, The Washington Post, and The Wall Street Journal describe how mainstream thinking is being challenged.
The New York Times quotes Dr. Claude Lenfant, Director of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute. “In the old days, you had a heart attack and you died…. You were almost signing the death certificate in advance. Now you know you can get another 20 […]
Remote Patient Monitoring Inching Its Way into DM
Disease Management News Reprint
Remote patient monitoring (RPM) promises to be the next evolution of the digital age in health care. More than 75 companies are developing RPM offerings. While many of these are start-ups, the field has also attracted large, established companies such as Medtronic, GE, Phillips, Siemens, EDS, and others.
This article appeared in the October 10, 2002 print edition of Disease Management News.
The publisher of Disease Management News, National Health Information, will make FREE 4-issue trials available to the […]
Welcome to Our New Format!
For the first time, this edition of E-CareManagement News is being sent out in HTML (graphical) format. If your email program can read HTML, then you should be viewing this edition with color and graphics. If you are having trouble viewing this newsletter, it’s also available at the BHT website. Please bear with us while we fix any bugs and please let us know if you have problems reading the newsletter.
If this issue of E-CareManagement News was forwarded to you […]
DMPC Realigns Its Business Model – A Major Step Forward!
Who’s really influential in the world of disease management (DM)? You don’t have to go very far before you bump into the name of Al Lewis, Executive Director of the Disease Management Purchasing Consortium (DMPC).
Don’t let his grin fool you. Alfred B. Lewis (Al) is a shrewd businessman….and getting shrewder every day. This article will describe how Al has recently realigned the DMPC business model and how this change will benefit both DM vendors and health plans.
In a nutshell, the […]
Broadband and E-Health: Joined at the Hip
“Slow broadband deployment is the key limitation in our high technology economy.” Andrew Grove, Chairman, Intel
Here’s a pop quiz — the answer might surprise you: What percentage of US households have high-bandwidth Internet connections? What percentage of South Korean households? (Answer below)
Several recent reports have examined the compelling advantages of broadband (high-speed) Internet and have highlighted some of the most promising health care applications. This brief reviews key excerpts and highlights some of the surprising findings.
Broadband: A 21st Century Technology […]
Cats and Dogs Living in Harmony? The CFO and CMO have Common Interests in Disease Management
A quiet, yet dramatic disconnect has existed in many health care organizations for the past decade. The disconnect relates to how the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) and the Chief Medical Officer (CMO) view disease management (DM).
This subtle dynamic has impacted the course of disease management development and implementation in many provider and health plan organizations. In many organizations CFOs took a predictable point of view — “Show me the money.” In other words, they would only endorse DM programs if […]
Client Spotlight – Cardiobeat Poised to Revolutionize Hemodynamic Monitoring
Cardiobeat is an early stage company with a revolutionary impedance cardiography system for non-invasive measurement of hemodynamic (blood flow) parameters. Impedance cardiography holds great promise for disease management of patients with congestive heart failure, hypertension (high blood pressure), and other conditions.
The Clinical Opportunity
There is a need for better tools to diagnose and manage heart disease. In the US alone, there are 5 million patients with CHF and over 50 million patients with hypertension.
Modern medications are complex and highly effective for […]
GE Buys E-Health Capabilities at Yard Sale Prices
Hardly anyone seems to have noticed, but General Electric has just completed its purchase of MedicaLogic (formerly Medscape), an eHealth medical record company.
“It’s a strategically important acquisition for us, said Greg Lucier, President and CEO of GE Medical Systems Information Technologies. “Our expansion into the ambulatory setting is a `first’ for GE, and because more patients experience care in this setting than any other in healthcare, it’s really an opportunity for us to make a major transformation in the healthcare […]
Adoption of E-Health Technologies – The Pace of a Turtle, The Intensity of a Steam Roller
“Taking the Pulse: Physicians and Emerging Information Technologies”
Deloitte Consulting, Deloitte & Touche; January 2002
Major Themes:
Time is Money. …the rate of adoption of information technology by practicing physicians is dependent on the relative impact on productivity and, by extension, on the economics of their practice.
Point of Care Information Technologies Remain Elusive (For Now).
Infrastructure Matters. …Value creation occurs when front-end applications and tools are integrated with robust backbone infrastructure–transaction systems and core databases.
Still Room to Master the Basics. …there is an abundance […]
Rewarding Physicians to Improve Quality of Chronic Care? What a Concept!!
Did you see the headline last week — “Six California Health Plans Formally Announce Quality Initiative”?
Eight million people are served by these six plans–Aetna, Blue Cross of California, Blue Shield of California, CIGNA Healthcare of California, Health Net, and PacifiCare. They have agreed to develop a common scorecard of quality measures and to pay physicians for achieving better scores.
Is the California initiative of Pay for Performance-Quality (PFP-Quality) a trend? Our commentary discusses four main points:
The PFP-Quality trend is here to […]
Mountains Beginning to Move? The Medicare Chronic Care Improvement ACt of 2001
One of the greatest barriers to delivering coordinated chronic care — perhaps THE greatest barrier — has been the lack of appropriate reimbursement.
With support from the National Chronic Care Consortium (NCCC) and the Chronic Care Coalition, Congressman Pete Stark and Senator Jay Rockefeller have introduced The Medicare Chronic Care Improvement Act of 2001. This legislation is designed to update and improve the Medicare health delivery system to meet better the needs of people with chronic health conditions.
The Institute of Medicine’s […]
Online Health Jeopardy
Are you familiar with the TV quiz show “Jeopardy” — the one where contestants are shown an answer and then have to come up with the right question?
Here’s today’s answer:
This recent government sponsored report makes recommendations in the following areas of online health:
Better management of clinical information to support care
Increased availability of online health services to provide direct clinical care
Increased use of online applications to support clinical practice
Facilitating the greater adoption of electronic commerce to produce a more efficient health […]
“Hospitals and Chronic Care Strategy: Stuck in the Middle”
Hospitals are an enigma when it comes to chronic disease management. While to-date most hospitals have watched from the sidelines, they have the POTENTIAL to become star players.
Key Questions for Hospitals to Consider
Are you in the chronic care business? Is it part of your mission to care for your patients’ ongoing chronic care needs? Are these questions even on your radar screen? If they’re not, they will be shortly.
How do Hospitals Fit into the Bigger Picture of Chronic Disease Management? […]
Patients Would Use E-mail to Communicate with Physicians
“E-mail Communications in Family Practice — What Do Patients Expect?”
The Journal of Family Practice, May 2001
Areas of Reported Interest Among Patients with E-mail Access
Communication with MD…… 89.9%
Request prescription refills… 86.7
Consult a nurse. …………….. 83.6
Obtain lab/test reports……… 81.2
Make/cancel appointments.. 77.6
Regardless of sex or race, patients have high expectations that these tasks can be completed within a relatively short time.
Pharmaceutical Trend Studies From Express Scripts
“2000 Drug Trend Report”
Express Scripts, June 2000
A 150-page report examining pharmaceutical utilization and spending trends.
The bottom line: Per […]
Five Critical Observations About Disease Management Assembling
“Build or buy?” is one of the most fundamental questions faced by any organization. A few years ago, it was unclear how this question should be answered in relation to chronic disease programs. The question is raised by a wide range of organizations involved in chronic disease management (DM) — including delivery systems, physicians, health plans, and DM support or outsourcing companies.
A third option — assembling — is making sense to an increasing number of organizations. Assembling is somewhere between […]
Gaining Physician Buy-In – The “Achilles Heel” of Disease Management
by Harry Leider MD, MBA
Why is achieving physician buy-in important to successful implementation of a disease management program?
It is my experience that programs that fail to gain widespread physician support have great difficulty enrolling patients and usually experience enrollment rates less than 40%. Conversely initiatives that enjoy strong physician sponsorship can achieve enrollment rates as high as 75%.
As a case in point, while I served as Medical Director of HealthNet (a regional managed care organization in Kansas City), we implemented […]
Health Plans and Physicians Agree on Clinical Guidelines – Minnesota Sets Standards for Best Practices!
Minnesota is becoming the first state in the nation where medical care is built around the systematic use of science-based best medical practice protocols developed by physicians and supported by major health plans. Collaboration, not competition, is the goal of Minnesota’s leading medical groups and health plans when it comes to quality health care.
Click here to read details about clinical improvements methods developed by the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement (ICSI). An article in the New York Times further describes […]
IOM Report: Chronic Disease Management and E-Care Are Key Strategies to Improve U.S. Health Care Quality
“An elephant in the living room” is often used as a metaphor of what it’s like to live in a home with alcoholism — everyone knows it’s there, but no one talks about it. Admitting there is an elephant is a first step toward recovery.
Last week the Institute of Medicine (IOM) described the elephant in the living room of the U.S. health care system. The IOM issued a landmark report “Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health System for the […]
Next Generation Clinical and Business Models for Quality Driven Care Management
What’s All the Recent Commotion About Health Care Quality?
In the past several years, the issue of health care quality has received a great amount of press. Most of the news has focused on negatives — medical errors and patient safety issues that jeopardize lives.
Numerous studies have critiqued quality in the US health care system. For example, a report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) — “To Err is Human: Building a Safer Health System” — was released in November 1999. […]
Emerging Themes: Physicians and the Internet
In the past several months numerous studies and analyses have examined physician adoption of Internet technology and tools.
With a dash of perspective tossed in, this essay synthesizes some major findings, conclusions, and wisdom from recent research.
1) Read the Fine Print – Studies Differ About Current Measurements of Physician Adoption of the Internet
How many physicians are online? 37%? 98%? ….somewhere in between? Whatever answer you pick, you will find “scientific” evidence supporting your guestimate in this provoking article in American Medical […]
The Cure is in Hand: Bringing Information Technology to Patient Care
Josh Fisher and Rosemary Wang of W.R. Hambrecht have issued a comprehensive 78 page report examining the wireless handheld market for physicians.
Here are a few highlights:
With less than 1% of U.S. physicians using handheld devices for transactional purposes today, we believe there are exceptional opportunities for companies developing handheld applications for the healthcare market.
We believe wireless handheld devices, which fit seamlessly into a physician’s workflow, will not only involve physicians but get them addicted to Internet technologies.
Already, approximately 15% of […]
E-Clinical Trials: A Boost for Disease Management Options
Two excellent recent studies provide in-depth and up-to-the-minute analyses of advancements in clinical trials. E-clinical trials promise to be a killer application of the Internet in health care.
Clinical trials research is a key aspect of improving disease management processes:
Clinical trials are a required step in taking promising pharmaceutical products and demonstrating their safety and efficacy.
Pharmaceutical products often can provide improved health and quality of life for patients.
Pharmaceutical products often (not always) are cost effective tools for disease management. Treating patients […]
Next Steps Taken in Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration
Medicare is testing the cost-effectiveness of paying for case management and disease management (DM) services. The latest announcement from the Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration describes plans to select at least eight demonstration projects by early 2001.
The demonstration is designed to:
Test proven models of coordinated care to improve the quality of services furnished to specific beneficiaries and manage expenditures under Parts A and B of the Medicare program;
Examine a variety of delivery and payment models applicable to the original Medicare fee-for-service […]
A First Look at Disease Management Under Defined Contribution
Just when you think all the acronyms in health care have been used up, along comes a new one. This one, however, is worth paying attention to. Defined Contribution (DC) promises to be as strong a force in the 00s as was managed care in the 80s and 90s.
What are Defined Contribution (DC) Health Benefits?
DefinedCare.com provides the following basic explanation of DC: Medical benefit defined contributions involve employers and other traditional purchasers of care providing an allowance, that empowers consumers […]
“E-Care: Internet Solutions Changing the Paradigms of Health”
Senior Analyst James Ackerman of Friedman, Billings, Ramsey & Co. has authored an excellent analysis of emerging e-care opportunities, a full 34 page report (dated June 1, 2000) and a 2 page summary.
The analysis includes discussion of
wireless, handheld physician automation tools,
home-based patient monitoring/disease management and
medical risk management by payors. A few highlights from the summary:
There are four key factors driving the widespread penetration of the Internet in healthcare. These include:
Spiraling costs and the imperative to find operating efficiencies.
Growth of healthcare […]
A Primer on Disease Management Terminology – is DM Like a Wall, a Spear, a Rope?
Remember the story about the blind men and the elephant? The first felt the side of the elephant and said it is “very like a wall”. The second touched the tusk and declared it is “very like a spear.” Another man held the elephant’s swinging tail and said it is “very like a rope.” And so on….
This is not unlike how people use the term “disease management” (DM). The meaning of the term DM depends very much on your knowledge […]
Lessons from History: Anticipating Implementation Challenges for eDM Programs
In the mid-1990s disease management (DM) outsourcing companies attempted to integrate their services into local delivery systems. They often encountered resistance from local providers (physicians and hospitals), who viewed the DM companies as outsiders.
Today a new wave of companies is beginning to develop Internet disease management (eDM) offerings. The challenge is similar: implementing and integrating eDM offerings into local delivery systems, which are often resistant to innovations of outsiders.
This essay will list and briefly describe some of the challenges experienced […]
An eDM Scorecard: Who’s Suiting up to Play in the Game?
A host of different organizations — some old, some new — are emerging from the wings to provide disease/care management services and tools utilizing the Internet!
…and they are approaching the Internet disease management (eDM) opportunity from very different angles.
Let’s categorize organizations scrutinizing eDM into four broad groupings:
Traditional Health Organizations
E-Health Companies: Business-to-Consumer (B2C)
E-Health Companies: Business-to-Business (B2B)
Other Technology Companies
How might each of these groups view the eDM opportunity?
Traditional Health Organizations
Traditional health organizations that have shown interest in eDM include DM outsourcing companies, […]
RWJF Report Forecasts Health Care in the U.S. Through 2010
A report entitled “Health and Health Care 2010” has been released by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Institute for the Future.
Here are a few summary findings from the section of the Executive Summary entitled “Care Processes and Medical Management”:
Medical management — the active management of the care of patients and populations — is currently applied sporadically, if at all. There are two main issues in the future of medical management. The first is the debate over which care […]
Healtheon/WebMD to Acquire Care Insite and Medical Manager – Good News for Advancing Care Management
The Richter scale shook again this week as Healtheon/WebMD announced an acquisition of CareInsite and Medical Manager. This mega-merger will bring together the #1 and #2 companies providing e-health connectivity. Details of the proposed deal can be reviewed at:
Healtheon to Buy Medical Manager
Healtheon-WebMD to CareInsite: “Be Mine!”
Online Health Firms Unite
Healtheon-WebMD Pops a Big Question
So what does the new HealtheonWebMD mean for those of us interested in disease management, care management, and clinical integration approaches?
Mostly it’s very good news.
Why? It avoids […]
“e-Care” Emerges as a Distinct Internet-Health Category
Internet health analysts initially divided the world of e-health into 3 or 4 “Cs” – usually Content, Connectivity, and Commerce (and sometimes Community).
Wit Capital has recently another C to the list –- Clinical Care.
Wit’s excellent 58 page report “eHealth 2000: Healthcare and the Internet in the New Millennium” can be viewed in either HTML or Adobe Acrobat formats.
Wit Capital’s report identifies this new category as — Clinical Care: The Convergence of Disease Management, Health Management and the Internet.
“Relentlessly rising healthcare […]
Five Simple Truths About Employers and Disease Management
Employers are playing an increasingly active role in disease management (DM) initiatives for their employees. Employers are recognizing that a disproportionate amount of health costs are incurred by a small percentage of their employees (typically 5% of a group accounts for about 60% of health care costs). Many employers are frustrated by perceptions that health care premiums are rising faster than medical costs and that health plans and providers are not taking enough steps to manage clinical care.
Here are 5 […]
Will the Internet Connect – or Disconnect – Patients and Physicians?
It’s hardly news these days, but there’s another entrant into the Internet health portal race. However, this one brings some unique twists. Medem has opportunities to employ both push and pull strategies to promote its web site and to improve the patient-physician relationship.
Wall Street and Main Street Health Care
At the new millennium, U.S. health care is living in two different worlds.
The world of Wall Street recognizes the huge opportunities in bringing the Internet to health care. In 1999, market capitalization […]
B2B eDM: Revolutionary Opportunities!
“What’s B2B eDM?” you ask. It stands for business-to-business Internet disease management.
The Internet is receiving great attention for its potential to improve disease management processes. However, almost all the attention has been paid to business-to-consumer (B2C) applications, rather than business-to-business (B2B) applications.
This parallels the attention that all B2C Internet companies have received over the past several years. The explosive potential of the B2B Internet market is just emerging!
This article highlights some of the strategic opportunities relating to B2B eDM. In […]
United Healthcare Pulls MBAs Licenses to Practice Medicine
In a story making national headlines this week, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) has announced that it is giving doctors the final say on treatments for their patients.
Good Medicine and Good Business
It’s hard to overstate the significance of UHC’s move. This is a sentinel event in the shift from managing cost to managing care!
It’s the right thing to do AND will prove to be an excellent business decision.
It’s another sign of the ending of the era of “MBAs Practicing Medicine”.
UHC’s Care Coordinator Program
United […]
Finally! Three e-Health Companies Focusing on Clinical Management Preparing to go Public!
A first wave of e-health companies went public earlier this year. These e-health companies focus primarily on 1) Automating back-office transactions (Healtheon, CareInsite, Claimsnet.com) or 2) Patient and/or physician content (DrKoop.com, adam.com, Mediconsult.com, Medscape).
We’re gratified to see funding ready to flow to companies focusing on care management opportunities. Within about the past two months, three care management companies have filed S1 statements with the Securities and Exchange Commission, a required step in taking a company public. The companies (and citations […]
Accordant Health: A Prototype for Clicks and Mortar Disease Management
Explaining “Clicks and Mortar”
David Pottruck, the co-CEO of Charles Schwab, recently coined the phrase “clicks and mortar” to describe the formula for success in the new economy. An article by Jonathan Weber in the Industry Standard describes the essence of this new catchphrase:
“the basic concept…is that the most successful businesses of this remarkable era will combine the power of the Internet with the ability to operate effectively in the offline world.”
Pottruck uses the brokerage company Charles Schwab as his prime […]
What’s Up with ASPs?
Application service providers, or ASPs, was one of the hottest topics under discussion last week at the Microsoft Healthcare Users Group Conference in San Diego. In this article, we will briefly describe ASPs, explain why they will be important, and list some specific implications for care management approaches. While ASPs will be attractive to all health care organizations, we will focus on the unique advantages they can provide for physician offices.
Not a Poisonous Snake, But a Great Concept
ASPs are a […]
Care Management on the Internet: If We Build It, Will They Come?
There are two sides to being a pioneer. Some pioneers come back with stories about lands of milk and honey. Other pioneers come back with bullet holes in their hats, or they don’t come back at all.
Health care organizations can learn from Internet pioneers in other fields. In this issue, we will take a look at two types of Internet financial services applications.
Online Banking – Not a Field of Dreams
First, let’s take a look at folks with holes in their […]
Summer Vacation Issue
Care Management – Big Picture Perspectives
Here’s an excerpt from a recent (July 27) investment analyst report on Internet health opportunities. “The EVolution of Healthcare” is published by EOffering, the investment bank arm of E*Trade. You can download the full report, “The Next Generation of Managed Care–Clinical Management
“After nearly a decade of managed care and its emphasis on cost containment, we believe that the ‘low-hanging fruit’ has already been picked from the healthcare system and that HMOs will now need to […]
All Bets Are On: Physicians are Using and Accepting the Internet!
The early returns suggest that physicians are adopting Internet technologies! In this issue of our e-newsletter, we share results of early surveys, explain why we expect these trends to continue, and discuss implications for care management.
Survey Results
Three separate surveys show more doctors use and accept the Internet.
PSL Research led a study conducted in Spring/Summer 1998. Key findings about physicians across the world include:
80% of physicians across eleven North American, European, and Asian countries own a computer and 44% of these […]
The FedEx Truck Phenomenon: The Need for a Strong Care Management Value Chain
Health care organizations can learn a valuable lesson by understanding how a “value chain” applies to care management approaches. Implementing the best care management approaches will require a mindset and culture that understands and embraces the value chain process.
Most of our e-newsletter readers (currently about 1,100) have roots in clinical care, business or technology. The value chain concept is understood better in the business and tech worlds, and there’s no reason it can’t be understood by everyone in healthcare.
So what’s […]
Patient-Centered Care: Motherhood and Apple Pie?
Seventy percent of health care costs in the U.S. are spent on people who have one or more chronic condition. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s “Chronic Care in America: A 21st Century Challenge” is a classic study that details the clinical and financial issues involved.
A new term in the vocabulary of health care and managed care is “patient-centered” care. In short, it refers to care focused on the needs and preferences of an individual patient (more below). Patient-centered care for […]
Physicians and Care Management: MBAs Practicing Medicine, or Doctors Controlling Their Own Destiny?
Nearly 7 out of 10 physicians consider themselves “anti-managed care”, according to a recent study.
Physicians tend to equate the old model of managed care (managing costs rather than managing patient care) with overpaid MBAs who tell them how to practice medicine, squeeze them for discounts, and randomly throw them out of provider networks.
How do physicians feel about new approaches of care management? Shouldn’t they be wildly supportive? Studies are mounting that disease management, medical management, demand management, and case management […]
Healtheon: Establishing a Beachhead for Care Management
Summary:
Healtheon is a company to put on your radar screen. Its Internet business model is easily adaptable for future care management applications (disease management, demand management, case management, population health). Depending on your organization’s role in care management, Healtheon might soon be your vendor, competitor or partner.
Background: Healtheon and Its Internet Business Model
The Internet promises two transformational improvements for healthcare applications:
transactions processing
communications (among providers, between providers and patients, and patient access to medical information)
Healtheon’s initial value proposition focuses on improved […]