The debate on Healthcare reform is going on at full throttle in Washington DC as well as the rest of the country. No one knows where this is headed to or can confirm what the outcome will be. It looks more likely that we will see Healthcare exchanges will get setup. Most probably not at the national level, but instead at the state level.
Continue reading "Healthcare Reform and its impact on individual market" »
To begin diving deeper into interoperability within healthcare, let’s talk about interoperability within the healthcare provider sector. The healthcare provider industry is suffering from, what a colleague has very eloquently described as, ‘extreme heterogeneity’ of IT systems even within a single provider.
Continue reading "Interoperability Trends within the Healthcare Provider Sector" »
As the global healthcare industry grapples with tremendous challenges on both cost and quality fronts; the healthcare consumer is simultaneously undergoing an equally dramatic change in behavior, attitude and awareness. This new-age healthcare consumer will soon demand a significantly more active role in managing his/her own health needs as well as filtering and monitoring the relevant services that would be provided by the health industry.
Supply and demand is perhaps one of the most fundamental concepts of economics and it is the backbone of a market economy. Demand refers to how much (quantity) of a product or service is desired by buyers. The quantity demanded is the amount of a product people are willing to buy at a certain price; the relationship between price and quantity demanded is known as the demand relationship. Supply represents how much the market can offer. The quantity supplied refers to the amount of a certain good producers are willing to supply when receiving a certain price. The correlation between price and how much of a good or service is supplied to the market is known as the supply relationship. Price, therefore, is a reflection of supply and demand, according to Investopedia.com, a Forbes company.
Continue reading "The Law of Supply and Demand - "Healthcare Rationing for our Future”" »
The question these days, on everybody’s mind is ‘How is the health reform going to pan out?’
With the passage of the bill in the house (though surprisingly narrowly) and with a clear democratic majority in the senate, the issue is not of ‘If’ but more of ‘When’ and ‘In what shape’ the bill will come into being. Now that we have pretty much moved beyond that point, the foremost question becomes what will be the ultimate impact of the reforms on three primary stakeholders, namely the patients, the providers and the payers.
Continue reading "How is the health reform going to pan out?" »
Healthcare reform is all about money. Most of the discussion happening is around the reform to Healthcare Insurance. The various provisions that are discussed today like universal coverage, removal of restrictions on pre-existing conditions, electronic health records, Health Information exchanges etc are going to increase the cost that is currently borne by the members and the employers. Even without these changes, we are seeing the healthcare costs going up on an annual basis and it has increased consistently and alarmingly in the past 15 years. We have seen employers reduce their share of the expenses as the total price keeps going up. This trend is going to continue. When you talk about removing pre-existing conditions restriction that currently exists or allowing even chronically ill patients to be able to buy affordable (?) health insurance, it sounds great. But what does this mean to the health care costs? This definitely is going to increase the cost burden on the Insurers. So who gets to pay for this additional expense? Of course the member! Or let us consider the scenario where there is a competing government health plan option. Where does the government get the money from to pay for covering everyone? Again the members, who are the tax payers will get to pay for it. So is having Universal coverage not a good thing? Definitely not! So what do we need to focus on? Definitely the most efficient and cost effective way to provide the coverage to everyone. And that means the focus should be on efficiency and eliminating wastage and reduction in errors.
Yogi Berra's second claim to fame is for being one of the most quoted figures in the sports world. He is credited with coining the deceptively simplistic observation, "It ain't over till it's over." But he's also known for his flubs. Yogi takes his experiences as one of baseballs' all-time heroes and turns them into funny, appealing, and moving essays on the game of life. His philosophy is plainspoken and down-to-earth, honest through more than 50 years of reflecting on the game of baseball. Keep trying. Stay humble, Trust your instincts. Most importantly, act. When you come to a fork in the road, take it.
Continue reading ""When you come to a fork in the road; Take it!"" »
As the debate continues and the American People become more educated on the true impact of “Healthcare Reform” the question that begs for an answer is, “What is Healthcare Reform”? Read any article, tune into any top news organization and as soon as you think you understand the meaning from one of the political pundits or news anchors it will change as soon as you listen to another source. Even the politicians responsible for the legislation are confused!
It seems that there are many in the general public who feel that universal health care will answer all the cumulative issues which has caused the current state of health care crisis in America today. However, before anyone rushes into a “cure all” solution, there needs to be an understanding what universal healthcare is, how it will work for America, and further debate as to whether universal healthcare really is the right answer or if there are better ways for the government to spend taxpayer money towards a different kind of healthcare model.
Continue reading "Universal Healthcare- A Possible Solution?" »
As recently as a month ago, we might have compiled the multiple healthcare reform bills in search of common themes to prepare for likely changes to come. Who would have supposed that successfully managing a health insurance organization would require that we become political pundits? As the conversation unfolds, its resemblance to a dialogue is quickly dissembling into a conflict based on the loudest and last word spoken rather than on the merits of any given proposal. Terms are morphing, healthcare reform is being recast as health insurance reform. Our industry had approached the table with significant contributions, including a willingness to forego benefit exclusions based on pre-existing conditions in the context of a marketplace where effectively all lives are health-insured. Health insurers are now being cast (by those who oppose reform) as the villain solely responsible for wasteful healthcare costs.
Continue reading "Healthcare Change- Finding Common Ground" »
Continue reading "Enterprise Data analytics: Breaking department silos" »
Will the Henry Ford of healthcare emerge from the current effort to truly lead the reinvention of the US system? Not even 100 years ago, Henry Ford refined the assembly-line concept and completely transformed the automotive industry from a highly-specialized, one-off, craft-based culture into an industrial juggernaut based on fanatical process consistency, data-driven driven decision-making, and product standardization. Costs fell almost immediately to unforeseen lows. Access to automobiles became available to everyone. Solid, competent, reliable service delivered to everyone. Isn’t this what we all crave for our Healthcare system?
I was at the Institute 2009 conducted by AHIP in San Diego. Excellent weather, fantastic people and exciting ambience has now put San Diego on the top of my list for a repeat visit. However these were just added attractions when compared to the seminar. Almost 1400 people attended, 400 odd from the various health plans and the rest were people trying to sell them some solution or services! It was a motley crew of attendees from an Infosys perspective: Clients, Prospects, Potential and current alliance partners, competitors. The booth area was huge and was extremely well designed to manage the flow of people. We had a protest too and the officer assigned to stand guard at the main building entrance spend 15 minutes talking to me about the pros and cons of the various pubs and steakhouses in the Gaslamp Area – but that’s another story.
Continue reading "AHIP 2009 - Key to the HC Reform and Trends for the future" »
Observations;
There seems to be a divide in the Healthcare Technology World in the U S between those that are proactively pursuing technology because it is necessary, improves quality and a necessary component of compliance and those who are “Capital” challenged and waiting for the “Wizard” to grant them the permission ($) to proceed. The ARRA HIT stimulus bill is effecting Healthcare Executives in different ways. George Halverson, CEO of Kaiser Permanente, one of the largest Healthcare Provider organizations in the world, declared at HIMSS, 2009 in Chicago during his keynote address that it was time to “Fix it Dammit”. While it is obvious that this is one approach there are still those that want the money first.
Has anyone really given a thought to the plight of the small (and large!) physician as a result of all of the proposed reforms in healthcare? Doctors, to a large extent, seem to have been made scapegoats in the battle for healthcare reform. At the same time, true reform is impossible without doctors participating willingly and eagerly. An incredibly ironic situation, but ripe for disaster in the making.
After the Health Care Executive consortium meeting with Obama, the number 1 action is to reduce healthcare costs! But How?
Continue reading "Obama wants to reduce healthcare costs! But How?" »
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) 2009…
… And the band is still playing on
My dear fellow Netizens, have you picked up any nationally renowned newspaper lately and flipped to page 5A, or switched on the tube and frivolously flipped the channel through the umpteen news channels? If you have, then I am sure you could not have escaped the raging debate regarding the ARRA and its impact on the US economy and its social implications and its morality in a society that is considered as the beacon of free market and its….. You get the drift.
Continue reading "American Recovery and Reinvestment Act : The band is still playing on" »
These times are tough for everyone considering the state of the world’s economy. But this is also an exciting time because of all the focus on healthcare and IT.
The analyst firms are predicting the healthcare sector to be almost recession proof, yet I am aware of layoff announcements in healthcare organizations in recent weeks.
As an astute leader in your healthcare organization, you’re scanning the headlines to find beacons to guide you through the economic doldrums. One can’t help but notice that the messages for the healthcare sector span the spectrum from hopeful and encouraging to dire.
Continue reading "Health Payer Survival Kit for a Suffering Economy" »
Some more predictions/extrapolations:
Obama’s incentives package has put power in the hands of Physicians.
Continue reading "Power Shift - Small Physicians become a large Healthcare-IT market in USA" »
As per my study here is a summary of Obama’s EMR and EHRS Incentive package:
1. $ 2B for developing standards, EMR installation grants and EHRS @ RHIR [I guess new name for RHIO]
2. $ 21B as incentives on EMR adoption. This is the net cost after anticipated savings of $ 15B are subtracted from the total spend of $ 36B on incentive payments.
The Obama Administration’s effort to get healthcare providers to acquire/adopt EHRs in “meaningful use” is certainly an ambitious dream supported with more than $21 billion of which about $17.2 billion consists of direct incentives that will be paid through Medicare and Medicaid. Physicians who show “meaningful use” of qualified EHRs will be eligible for $44,000 to $64,000 in subsidies over a five-year period, starting in 2011. Physicians who don’t use start using EHRs meaningfully by 2015 will start to see reductions in their Medicare payments.
