Pulse: Healthcare


Hale Report: Podcast Episode 5 with Kathryn Ibata-Arens on Technonationalism

EconVue interviews Kathryn Ibata-Arens, Vincent de Paul Professor of Political Science & Director of the Global Asian Studies Program at DePaul University.  Her new book has just been published by Stanford Press: Beyond Technonationalism, Biomedical Innovation and Entrepreneurship in Asia.

Culture Change Isn't a Natural for Healthcare Organizations

Written by David Burda, News Editor & Columnist of 4sight Health.

“We must begin by asking it, ‘What is losing?’  Losing is a disease. As contagious as polio.  Losing is a disease. As contagious as syphilis. Losing is a disease. As contagious as bubonic plague. Attacking one but infecting all.  But curable.”—Dr. Knobb addressing the New York Knights in The Natural.

Who Owns Americans’ Personal Information and What Is It Worth?

Co-authored with  Siddhartha Aneja.

How to Improve Patient Satisfaction with Transparent Payment System

American healthcare patients are demanding more price transparency, affordable services and quality care. Why are they not receiving it? How can healthcare organizations listen to consumers and set themselves up for success and achieve patient loyalty?

Americans are used to Fee-For-Service (FFS) payments, but this is not the future of healthcare. To make customers happy and satisfied, healthcare organizations need to work patients to improve their payment experience.

Why Healthcare Is Spinning Its VBR Wheels

It’s like preparing and serving a seven-course meal that your biggest customer ordered only to have the entire menu change between the salad and the main course. That’s what it must feel like for hospitals and doctors dealing with the ever-changing value-based reimbursement programs from Medicare.

That thought came to mind when reading the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission’s latest annual March report to Congress. The 531-page tome makes all kinds of recommendations to the federal legislative branch on how to improve the government’s health insurance program for seniors.

An Unbearable Burden: Paying for Commercial Health Insurance

The Healthcare Affordability Index shows how the rising costs of healthcare insurance, both for companies and employees, stagnate wages.

Getting Precise about Precision Medicine: Balancing Hope, Potential and Cost

Co-wrote with Dr. Harold Picken, Huron Consulting.

Definitions of precision medicine are anything but precise. For seriously ill patients and their families, precision medicine therapies provide a hope when all else has failed. They’re willing to risk long odds for the chance to improve or extend life, but they want health insurers to cover the costs.

EconVue Spotlight

I know some people abhor social media.  The sector has certainly taken a beating lately in the markets, but I really love Twitter. It gives me the ability to hear the (curated) voices of people I know, don’t know, and in some cases hope I never know, but who make me think.  I follow the newspapers and journals I used to have to login to separately, read other media from all around the world I didn’t even know existed, and get into impromptu conversations with real experts. 

Brand-Heavy and Asset-Light: Moving Beyond the Acute-Care Mindset

For health systems, the day of reckoning is near. A recent Morgan Stanley report states that over 1,000 of the nation’s 5,000+ hospitals are currently weak or at risk of closing. (1) This is the beginning of a larger wave.

The pressure is top down and bottom up. Payers are unwilling to continue unadulterated fee-for-service (FFS) payment formularies. Consumers increasingly expect convenience, lower costs, better outcomes and improved customer experience.

Amplifying Transformation: Addressing Medicare Advantage's Disadvantages

The U.S. healthcare system will not change the way it delivers care until it changes the way it pays for care. Perverse incentives riddle fee-for-service payment (FFS) and lead to overtreatment, fragmented delivery and runaway medical inflation. Incremental attempts to reform care delivery through value-based payment reform and provider education (e.g. the “Choosing Wisely” initiative) have not changed practice patterns in meaningful ways.

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