Category: Uncategorized

9Nov, 2015

Consumerism in Healthcare 2016 and Beyond Pt. 3

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACA, interconnectivity, technology

Part 3 In Part 1, we briefly discussed a few emerging trends in healthcare that seem to be gathering momentum; including the impact of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). In Part 2, we discussed how the internet, and particularly Google, has changed “consumer engagement” and what the healthcare industry must invest to catch up with consumer demand for interconnectivity to “everything.” This trend is irreversible and even more likely to pick up steam in the next 4 years. Think of it in terms of a hockey stick; we’re […]
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3Nov, 2015

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Consumerism in Healthcare 2016 and Beyond Pt. 2

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACA, American Medical Society, insurance, Internet Healthcare Solutions, MU-1, MU-2, platform

Part 2 In Part 1, we briefly discussed a few emerging trends in healthcare today that seem to be gathering momentum; including the impact of the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). This time, I want to expand on a recently released survey by the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, “Healthcare Consumer Engagement. ” Let me begin with a brief story. In 2000, as I was beginning the transition from healthcare operations to healthcare technology, while incorporating a company called Internet Healthcare Solutions, (that has, after several reorganizations, become Quantum […]
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26Oct, 2015

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Consumerism in Healthcare 2016 and Beyond

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACA, consumers, HHS, Medicaid, technology

Part 1 There are many trends emerging today in healthcare that seem to be gathering momentum. Some may credit changes to the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), some may credit changes in demographics, some the advancement in technology, while others the success of increasing consumer engagement. Regarding changes due to the ACA; yes, the ACA has disrupted some elements in healthcare, but in the totality of its context, the ACA seems to have brought about more challenges than solutions. It is self-evident that a lot of work remains and […]
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15Oct, 2015

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Did the world’s largest industry – by revenue – just get bigger?

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ancillary, economy, healthcare, investing, technology, Venture Capital

We have many times referred to the fact that healthcare is the world’s largest industry and is statistically destined to be one for generations to come. It has been hard for people to rationalize, thinking maybe food or even defense industries are larger; however, the facts are getting bigger. The world’s healthcare industry is estimated to have $7 trillion (USD) in total revenues, with the US accounting for about $3 trillion (USD); but according to a new study, the “Longevity Economy” is now a $7.1 trillion (USD) economy in the […]
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7Oct, 2015

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The Age of Data

By: Charity Darby | Tags: data, Doctors, drug-to-drug interaction, EHR, EMR, Goldman Sachs, Google, healthcare, hospitals, ICD-10, ICD-9, Numbers, Oscar, platform, Space

I recently read, with great joy, an article in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) that noted Google Capital, the internet company’s growth-equity fund, had “invested $32.5 million in Oscar Health Insurance Corporation”, a start-up in the healthcare insurance industry. There are a couple of interesting things about this article. First, this “start-up” is valued at $1.5 billion (USD) and second, according to the article,“Oscar amassed a war chest of more than $350 million in its bid to use data and technology to make the insurance business work more like an […]
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30Sep, 2015

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Healthcare Transparency

By: Charity Darby | Tags: allowed charges, billed charges, EHR, EMR, Florida, Governor, healthcare transparency

This week Florida Governor Rick Scott made headlines on the issue of healthcare transparency. The article that triggered this blog was published by “The News Service of Florida” and included an audio report . The issue of price transparency in healthcare has been a particular obsession of mine since the early 1990s, as I parachuted into healthcare operations. Imagine an engineer and commercial contractor having to deal with the effective collection rate for medical services with a net ranging in the 33 percentile of billed charges. It took a while […]
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21Sep, 2015

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The future of patient engagement, and the end of EHR as we know it… by 2025.

By: Charity Darby | Tags: CMS, EHR, EMR, HHS, Interconnect, MU-2, ONC, platform

Recently we have read a multitude of papers on the failure of providers to connect with consumers, as they use their electronic healthcare records (EHR). There are reasons this is important. First, the quality of medical care, as we have discussed on these pages, doesn’t equate to more care is better care. Second, patients are demanding it. In an era when we have cars that drive themselves, the ability to open your car, turn on your engine and heat it with a remote, check if your front door is locked, […]
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10Sep, 2015

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CMS Rereleases Data on ACO…

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACOs, CMS, Financials, Medicaid, Medicare, Medicare Shared Savings Program Performance, Performance, Pioneer ACO Model, Quality Meausures

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released the 2014 quality and financial performance results last week showing that Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while generating financial savings. As the number of Medicare beneficiaries served by ACOs continues to grow, these results suggest that ACOs are delivering higher quality care to more and more Medicare beneficiaries each year. According to the results, the 20 ACOs in the Pioneer ACO Model, and 333 Medicare Shared Savings Program, ACOs generated more than […]
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3Sep, 2015

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One Implementation, Many Similar Stories

By: Charity Darby | Tags: Chief Information Officer, EHR, EMR, Health Information System, HIT, implementation, penalties

Over the last few weeks we have read media reports that New York City’s Health and Hospitals Corporation, with about $5 billion (USD) in revenues and with over 30,000 employees, covering 11 hospitals, is having problems implementing a new health information system. I take zero pleasure in reporting this as I have been there on a more micro scale, and I expect to be there again. This “epic” issue is of note. Some of the facts, as I think I have them, are that this is a huge project. We […]
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28Aug, 2015

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New Study Casts Serious Doubts on Efforts to Accelerate EHR Adoption

By: Charity Darby | Tags: ACA, EHR, EMR, HITECH ACT, Medicare and Medicaid

For years, and under two different Presidents, the U.S. government has been pushing, enticing and inducing the medical community to adopt Electronic Health Records (EHR). One of the unanswered questions from a U.S. Government perspective is, “What difference does it make?” A recent report from a research collaborative study from faculty at University of Alabama – Birmingham, Indiana University and Johns Hopkins University asks the dark question; “has it all been worth it?” The private report indicates that it is very possible that “the electronic health records meaningful use program […]
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