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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 […]