Blog

AARP turned its back on you

Tom Hudock — Mon, 25 Oct 2010 20:22:48 +0000

The American healthcare system is changing. There are heated debates for both sides. "Obamacare" is the latest term from the Right wingers. And now there is a group threatening the AARP "monopoly".

This is a new group promoting:

Meaningful savings on a comprehensive list of health care insurances,
An online discount shopping mall for savings at brand-name stores,
Major discounts at hundreds of popular restaurants nationwide (this seemed like an odd selling point but who are we to say),
And other anti-Democratic, anti-government content.

They are called, Alliance for Retirement Prosperity. Much more on their webpage if this interests you personally.

Having competition is healthy. However, we feel the methods used in the advertising email we were again politically polarized and antagonistic. We feel now is the time for effective conversation to solve our problems (and agree on what the true problems are). We think there is so much to be done and we're eager to do our small little part is making health care better.

Where are you on this?

Americans held hostage by insurance companies

Tom Hudock — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 19:39:24 +0000

There is a flurry of debate going on in the United States. Politicians are at town hall meetings listening to people's opinions on reforming health care -- and many meetings are quite heated. President Obama this past weekend held a town hall meeting where he critized opponents of health care reform on their "scare tactics". Obama said Americans should no longer be "held hostage by health insurance companies". It's obvious there is still much confusion on the details of the bill. Realistically who has time to read a thousand pages of legal jargon. However it does seem that insurance companies will be making the most change or have the most to lose if this bill goes through. So what can people and companies in the health insurance business do to mitigate the change. First there is opportunity for those willing to search for it. Within chaos there is opportunity, as they say. This could be an excellent time to think differently than your competition! Perhaps provide more/better service to retain customers and capture customers not satisfied with the competition. It is well known that "technology has changed every other industry but health care". And I think this is where the most competitive differentation can happen. Are you looking at automated health information systems? Automating the integration of data with third parties, hospitals, stop loss carriers, or outsourced care managers? Plus you can't ignore leveraging the internet. Information sharing and data analysis are two areas that we've seen benefit other industries tremendously with reduced costs, less manual intervention, and more focus on improving the business instead of operational (and menial) tasks. Automation. If there is one area that should be looked at for improvement is the use of Excel spreadsheets in your organization. They are quick and easy to use but have serious draw backs. Excel hell: term used to describe the significant manual effort spent using desktop spreadsheets to analyze data and produce reports. Here are some of the costs to using desktop spreadsheets:

Lack of security - easy to email a spreadsheet of data that cannot be tracked.
Lack of auditing - once a spreadsheet is emailed out, revisions and updates are hard to track.
Worker mobility - hard to access your data from anywhere and tethered to your desktop.
Collaboration - coworkers have a difficult time sharing and managing multiple spreadsheets for the group.
Backup - are desktops being backed up or are the central servers being used to store these spreadsheets.

There are more if you think about it long enough. This is one tip for looking at your organization for improving beyond the competition. We'll post other tips for being more competitive soon.

Medical devices connected to the web

Tom Hudock — Wed, 12 Aug 2009 19:31:31 +0000

Health records updated from home so health workers can ensure remote patients are healthy. Devices, like asthma inhalers and blood oxygen monitors, are transmitting readings instantly when connected to the web. Health workers are alerted instantly and can take action if there is a problem. However, organizations are just getting started with connecting devices to the web. This article on "Innovation: Is the future of healthcare online?" highlights emerging technological leaps and gives an idea of where they could lead. The industry is moving beyond the traditional telehealth approach of remote contact with patients through phone calls and video conferencing. By taking this to the next level of advancement, connecting devices to the web is keeping health workers informed instantly and provides more convenience for patients. For example, this year Nonin unveiled the world's first handheld pulse oximeter for blood oxygen monitoring that sends data over the web. And Cambridge Consultants announced a wireless inhaler that transmits a confirmation that medication was issued to a central server, and the patients health record is instantly updated. The benefit for a patient is convenience and knowing that problems can be detected at an early stage before they become serious. Of course, there is the question of privacy and people may choose to make this a trade-off. The benefits of using the latest technology may outweigh the potential privacy concern. From what we've seen, more people are deciding it's worth it. There is a socialogical shift towards sharing personal data. People share more about themselves than ever before on the web - from their location and what they are doing every hour of the day to personal health records on Google Health. Significant benefits are waiting for patients and health workers just around the corner. More needs to be done to ensure privacy and the system works seamlessly but it's going in a positive directly.

Healthcare reform needed, maybe not

Tom Hudock — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 22:25:39 +0000

Can healthcare be reformed? Or maybe it doesn't need to be. The status quo could be kept with the same healthcare system. People must be getting quality care based on the numbers of people going through hospitals. Maybe the complainers are getting too much airtime. We've gathered highlights of what we're seeing and hearing out there. We wanted to contribute to the conversation with facts we find on Twitter, blogs, TV, and people we know. This is a complicated problem. What do you think? "US spends more on healthcare than any other country but ranks 26th on life expectancy." Many people are asking, "Where is the money going?" Some look to the inefficiencies in the system. Dr. Brenner says there's too much paperwork. Nurses spend 44% of of their time doing admin work, instead of patient focused care. Others talk about the rising cost of insurance and benefit plans for families. Kathleen Sebelius (Health and Human Services Secretary) urges healthcare reform and publishes a report on healthcare costs. Families are struggling to get quality care for a price they can afford. "Up to 30% of healthcare spending does little towards improving a person's health." Nightline's Charles Gibson interviews President Obama in the Whitehouse and talks about compelling arguments on driving down costs for everyone. There were concerns about a government-run healthcare plan but Obama says it will help contain administration costs and keep the private insurance companies honest. "100 million people are under-insured or not insured." Dr. Arnold Relman, one of the best known physicians with a book: A Second Opinion - Rescuing America's Health Care, says the US spends twice as much per capita (and twice as much as Canada) yet the US is not better off than other countries when comparing infant mortality, healthcare statistics and life expectancy. He advocates a single payor system. "At it's best, medical care in the US is equal to or better than medical care anywhere." While there are many problems with US healthcare system, medical care in the US is excellent and uncomparable to any other country. Can the healthcare system make this quality care uniformly available and give people the care they need? That, perhaps, is the question we should be asking.

Recession hits healthcare insurance - opportunities within!

Tom Hudock — Thu, 11 Jun 2009 18:17:31 +0000

Automobile companies are going bankrupt and laying people off (and executives don't feel guilty). Financial institutions are still letting people go too. The workforce is shrinking to record numbers in this economic decline - unemployment rate of 9.4%. It's true, people are going through tough times. However the downstream affect doesn't stop there. President Obama may be pooring millions of dollars into healthcare, but first quarter results for healthcare insurance companies was down. The largest insurance company by membership, Wellpoint, recorded losses to first quarter profits. This equated to $224 million in investments lost in the first quarter of 2009. As a result, profits were only $580 million. CEO, Angela Braly, said, they will "make our products more attractive and create more value for our customers." Just as car manufacturer's need to change from producing large SUV's and trucks to smaller, more fuel efficient vehicles, so should healthcare insurance companies change their services to fit the shrinking workforce. Organizations are reducing expenses by asking people to work parttime or take a payout, cutting out benefits such as training, and doing less travel to tradeshows. To stay competitive, insurance companies should be reviewing their products and fee structure to accommodate the change in their customer's landscape. And in fact, medical groups, such as hospitals and insurance carriers, have pledged to President Obama to chop $2 trillion from medical bills over the next 10 years. Not reduce costs but to slow the rise in healthcare costs. To accomplish this, the industry will need to improve upon inefficiencies and focus care managers and people towards better care, rather than more care. Some may see this as a problem. We see this as an opportunity that can benefit companies, employers, and of course, us, the people! Companies can look at improving their customer service by using technology and the internet to further their communication and collaboration. Providing better and more informative website services for customers and partners can go along way to increasing loyalty and reducing inefficiencies. Healthcare 2.0 is an example of using internet technologies to improve healthcare by sharing information through social networking techniques. Patients can find the best, safest, and accurate health information through social media, such as blogs, physician ratings sites, and discussion boards. Check out Revolution Health. As well, organizations exist offering choice for employers:

Professional Employer Organizations qualify for lower premiums and can take over the human resources of a company. An option for employers of small to mid-sized companies.
Third Party Administrators help process insurance claims for employers who self-insure their employees.

Again, there is opportunity out there for employers and companies innovative enough to change their services to meet the current economic need.

Personal data stolen from State health agency

Tom Hudock — Fri, 08 May 2009 23:33:51 +0000

Hackers broke into a Virginia State health agency taking millions of patient records containing personally identifying details and demanding $10 million ranson. Several websites and blogs have reported on the details of what happened.

What I'd like to bring to light is the challenge that state health agencies and health organizations have when it comes to securing our personal information. And the current healthcare industry view of wanting to manage the technology and data within their organizational silos. The result will be more security breaches, which will lead to personal identity theft, risk of personal loss, and lawsuits.

It is a fact of doing business in healthcare that information needs to be shared. It's being taught in masters in public health programs.

Physicians paid to adopt technology

Tom Hudock — Fri, 01 May 2009 17:33:36 +0000

The adoption of Electronic Medical Records (EMR) systems has been slow. The perception is the high cost, security and privacy are prohibiting the adoption by physicians. However the time the physician saves and the desire to become a better-practising physician with better information, should drive their decision.

Not to mention the gains that the average person will see when they move from physician to physician for any complicated care. Check out this YouTube video on helping physicians adopt EMRs.

TPAs reduce costs, increase risk

Tom Hudock — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:20:32 +0000

Companies looking to provide healthcare benefits for their employees may have a difficult decision ahead of them. Companies want to reduce costs and are demanding choice and service from their healthcare benefits provider. These employers are becoming better educated and savvy about the industry and are pushing for more personalized service. Leigh Doyle wrote an excellent article on the Canadian TPA market. The Benefits Canada Group Insurance Report shows a group insurance market of $26.2 billion is growing at rate of 6.7%. While the pure non-insured premiums providers are growing faster at 8.7% with a smaller $11.2 billion market. Leigh explains that TPAs can provide better service to employers, especially for unconvential plans and high service groups and cases. This emphasizes that TPAs should be all about customer service and flexible offerings. Alternatively insurance companies haven't come up with new benefits to distinguish themselves, which opens up more opportunity for TPAs to compete. And we believe competition makes for a healthy market, where employers and employees will see better and personalized plans. It's well known that Canada and the U.S. have an aging workforce. Cost containment will be a growing issue employers and employees will face as the baby boomers stress the system. One train of thought is preventative medicine -- address potential problems early in the hopes on reducing costs (and suffering) later. Medicine is one approach. Mining data is another way. For instance, using information to notify case managers on diabetes patterns is a well known example. Identifying drug combinations with other procedures can suggest potential long-term, large case management risks. However both insurance companies and TPAs have their place in the market. A balance needs to be weighed if you're considering TPAs. Do the research necessary for fee comparison but also on the claims adjudication, "which can very quickly offset any savings they have gained in fees."

10 things about healthcare stimulus

Tom Hudock — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 04:30:35 +0000

Whether you agree with his politics or feel he is up against insurmountable odds with the economy, Barak Obam's goal to improve the delivery of health care to more Americans is noble but not without it's challenges. He signed the health care stimulus plan in February for $150 billion. We like Obama's vision to reform -- however let's take this down into more detail. Karen Sampson writes an excellent post about 10 things you need to know about the stimulus plan. She understands this stuff; it's worth checking out. Based on Karen's 10 points, we have our own take on things.

Electronic health records -- Obama wants all health records done electronically. This would correspond with Walmart's recent news about offering electronic health records, Google Health and Microsoft's Health Vault. For instance, organizations are still using paper and fax to move records between locations and other organizations.
Unemployed -- extend Medicaid for the unemployed. This also includes the spouses and children under 19 of those unemployed people -- a direct money infusion to those who shouldn't be without coverage. It will be these unemployed who will be forced to be entrepreneurial and use their expertise for improving the industry.
Children -- helping families of low-income children is a terrific idea. Fittingly, this is funded by a tax increase on cigarettes. I hope the savings aren't used to buy cigarettes -- that's a vicious circle.
Governors -- in charge of how funds are released and setting eligibility requirements for their states. Great time to be a Governor, I'd say; help your citizens with someone else's money! Unfortunately, several Governors don't see it that way. Many are protesting for more discretion on how they use the funds.
CORBA -- to help offset costs, up to 65% of CORBA premiums are covered for individuals recently laid-off and still needing an extension to their coverage.
Job Training -- want to enter the health care field? Now's the time, says $120 mil -- used for grants and helping people prepare for a career in health care.
Preventive Care -- keep costs under control through prevention and research. And money will be saved by reducing the need for so many people to be in the system. Counter-intuitive but surrounded in common sense.
Accountability -- how will Congress know funding is helping the economy? $1.5 mil to the Institute of Medicine is how. They will provide a national report on effectiveness before July 2009.
High tech -- novel idea for the health care industry. Use technology to facilitate medical care, such as, improve operational efficiency, reduce wait times, exchange records electronically, and telemedicine for rural communities.
$150 billion stimulus -- this lists some terrific ways to help people and improve the health care industry. We hope in six months we aren't writing about how this money was used inappropriately. There is potential for this, not necessarily because it's government, but mainly because of the large sum of money. It's just hard to manage that much cash (as I can only imagine).

We look forward to posting about successes in the industry because of the stimulus plan.

Move over healthcare, here comes Walmart

Tom Hudock — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 04:17:35 +0000

Years ago the world's largest retailer changed the retail game. Now they want to do the same with electronic health records (EHR). How low cost clothing, food, and appliances will translate in the healthcare world is up for debate. And Walmart isn't going it alone. They have partnered with Dell and eClinicalWorks. Dell will supply PC's, while eClinicalWorks will provide the software and training. And what does Walmart bring to the table? I guess marketing power and distribution. And perhaps investment capital. The cost per physician is $25,000 according to the New York Times. Not the typical Walmart prices you're used to seeing but it's relative I guess. What is truly interesting is yet another big player introducing healthcare services on the internet. Other big players are Google Health and Microsoft HealthVault for personal health records. This is a significant push on the healthcare industry to do business in new ways. For many, that is a breath of fresh air. Healthcare is typically slow to adopt new technologies and methods for running their business. Surgens, ERs, labs, and specialists probably use the latest gadget to save a life; I'm talking about the business side of healthcare. Many organizations are still using manual processes, like paper, fax and email, to move information around. With those manual methods, security is non-existant. People can easily email files home (or elsewhere) and you wouldn't know where or when. Manual effort is not efficient. Highly paid and educated people should be 100% focused on patient care and doing less meanial and manual tasks. The Obama plan for a $19 billion injection into healthcare information technology (from the stimulus package) could do a lot of good for the industry. However even with the best of intentions of government, the injection could also end up being used to pay companies pushing old technologies or simply wasted on large consulting projects that either fail or more likely go over budget. Let's hope a large portion of the stimulus injection is put towards business and technological improvements that make sense and are focused on growth into the next generation.