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11th Annual Healthcare Unbound Conference, San Diego, December 3-4
 December 3-4, 2014Â
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
Swiss cheese health insurance?So, so many holes.
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?”
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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.