Taking a look at new paths to coordinated care

By Claire Thayer, November 20, 2013

This easy to view slide show gives a quick snapshot of new approaches to analyzing patient data to improve patient care outcomes and lower overall hospital readmission costs.

 

Highlights of this simple interactive tool include an estimate of per patient costs to health care system by time of discharge, percent of patients suffering from preventable readmissions, as well as an example of how IBM Patient Care and Insights supports the community involved in patient care for hospitals, home health and payer organizations. View more below or click here to register for free access to this tool. 

Turning webinars into valuable content

By Claire Thayer, October 14, 2013

A previous blog post discussed ways to engage your audience with content marketing. A few ideas include: videos, infographics, white papers, survey results, articles, case studies, and webinars as tactics to educate current and prospective customers about your business solutions.  One of the webinar platforms we use here at MCOL for our HealthcareWeb Summit events is ReadyTalk. Bo Bandy, PR and Marketing Communications Manager at ReadyTalk posted a recent blog item on benefits of using webinars to generate content and identified 19 pieces of content that can be generated from each webinar in her blog post 1 Webinar = 19 Pieces of Content. 

Here’s a screenshot of some of the assets related to a webinar that can easily be repurposed into individual pieces of content.  Read Bo’s entire blog here for a look at the 19 recommendations.

Every webinar has components that must be created but can than later be re-purposed. Those include:

• Abstract
• Emails
• Registration page
• Slide Deck
• Polls
• Chat
• Q&A
• Twitter stream
• Archive page
• Recording
• Emails
• Transcription

So, if you are one of the 59% of marketers who do webinars...click to continue

Complimentary White Papers

By Claire Thayer, Spetember 30, 2013

Several new informational white papers have been posted to the MCOL web site with topics including document automation, use of best of breed platforms, compliance challenges with health care reform, core system modernization, payer ratings, executing on the individual mandate, provider reimbursement, staying competitive with health reform, social business systems, managing social content, ways health plans are using twitter to engage members and several more! All white paper are available for free, require brief registration, and include complimentary MCOL Basic membership.

See all the white papers here or check out the list below

White Papers from Oracle

• Building an Agile Communications Strategy
• Four Trends Driving Document Automation
• Company’s Annuity Operations Increases Scale and Gains Efficiencies Using Straight Through Process (STP) and Best of Breed platforms
• Compliance Challenges Associated with Health Care Reform: Managing Data, Documents, and Product Development for Market Advantage
• Core Systems Modernization: Harnessing the Power of Rules-Based Policy Administration
• Enterprise Rating Agility Improves Payer Response to Healthcare Reform
• Executing on the Individual Mandate: Opportunities and Challenges for Healthcare Payers
• Navigating Alternative Provider Reimbursement Models of the Future
• Redefining Quality Customer Service with On-demand and Multi-Channel Document Delivery
• Staying Competitive Through Healthcare Reform: How Billing Can Help

White Papers from IBM

• Where do you land in the capture continuum?
• Intelligent imaging leadership guide
• Intelligent Imaging for Improved Banking Performance and Profitability
• The Paper Free Office
• Social Business Systems
• Managing Social Content

White Papers from MCOL

• Measuring Health Care Business Social Media Activity 2012
• Case Study: Three Ways Health Plans are Using Twitter to Engage Their Members

mcol White Papers on Social Content

By Claire Thayer, September 16, 2013

There's a variety ways to implement and integrate social content management and social business applications.  Developing an overall strategy early in the process is an important component to the overall success of the implementation.  We recently posted a complimentary white paper on this topic which might be of interest: "Managing Social Content - to maximize value and minimize risk." If you’re looking to learn more about social business technologies, the Social Business Systems white paper explores the following: How enterprises are determining the right areas in which to invest in social business; Why social business technologies can be the best way to promote collaboration between sales and marketing departments; Which social business technologies and delivery mechanisms return the best results for various industry segment; How setting up a reward scheme can dramatically improve cross-organizational buy-in; and Why detailed recordkeeping must be integral to your social business operations. These and other informational white papers are available on a complimentary basis on mcol.com.

Engaging Your Audience with Content Marketing

By Claire Thayer, August 15, 2013

Content marketing offers a fresh approach for engaging with your audience in a manner that’s both subtle and thoughtful.  Think: videos, infographics, white papers, survey results, articles, case studies, and webinars as tactics to educate current and prospective customers about your business solutions.

According to an infographic posted this week on Social Media Today, 72% of B2B marketers use content marketing as part of their overall marketing strategy, with more than half rating videos as the most effective content marketing tactic – see B2B Marketing Strategies for 2013 and Beyond. 

This soft sales approach to marketing is quite effective in generating leads, along with increasing overall awareness about your company in terms of brand identity and thought leadership.  Check out these white papers and videos as well as info about our sponsored webinars for some ideas on marketing your content. In addition, while not specifically health care focused, some key takeaways can be gleaned from this article: How To Make Content Marketing Work for Your Business as well as from this short video: 50 Stats You Need to Know About Content Marketing from NewsCred.

Making sense of Big Data

By Claire Thayer, August 5, 2013

A recent article on big data published McKinsey & Company, The big-data revolution in US health care: Accelerating value and innovation, finds that many innovative US health-care data applications are moving beyond retroactive reporting to interventions and predictive capabilities.  Since 2010, more than 200 new businesses have developed innovative health-care applications. About 40 percent of these were aimed at direct health interventions or predictive capabilities.

Last week, Optum published a two-part series on big data.  Don James, Director of Product Management, Risk Adjustment Solutions at Optum, suggests that a comprehensive analytics approach presents a framework for helping health plans to clinically evaluate members, collaborate with providers more strategically, and apply models to help gauge the impact of efforts to improve clinical effectiveness.  In this series,  Optum identifies three steps in developing an analytics’ approach: (1) access data sources; (2) aggregate and stratify the data; and (3) model the data.  Step 1, access data sources, is addressed in Living the Promise of Big Data Part I while steps two and three are specifically addressed in Living the Promise of Big Data Part II. 

Cutting edge predictive analytics and health care trends are highlighted each month in Predictive Modeling News, published by Health Policy Publishing.  The August 2013 edition, released today, features a lead article addressing predictive analytics in health care -- view page one of this issue here.  Additionally, here are a few big-data in health care related videos that are available for free on MCOL’s HealthShareTV site:

• Improving Health care Through Big Data
• The surprising seeds of a big-data revolution in health care
• Using Data Mining & Analytics to Proactively Manage Emergency Room
• Finding Meaning in Numbers: Using Big Data to Transform Your Health Care Benefits

10 Key Trends Shaping the mHealth market until 2017

By Claire Thayer, July 24, 2013

This week, Research and Markets announced the release of their newest report, Mobile Health Trends and Figures 2013-2017. Those of you following mHealth trends won’t be surprised to see predictions that the mHealth market will develop in line with the smartphone application market. According to the press release, five years from now, the mHealth market will be a mass market with a reach of billions of smartphone and tablet users. By that time, 50% of these users will have downloaded mHealth applications.  Further, by the end of 2017, the total mHealth market revenue will have grown by 61%.  The main sources of revenue will not come from application download revenue itself, but from mHealth services and hardware sales. This new report shows that the market for mobile health application will develop along the following trends:

1. Smartphone user penetration will be the main driver for the mHealth uptake
2. mHealth applications will be tailored specifically for smartphones or tablets
3. mHealth applications will be native rather than web-based applications
4. mHealth niche stores will become the home of the 2nd generation of mHealth apps
5. Missing regulations are the main market barrier during the commercialization phase
6. Buyers will continue to drive the market
7. Applications will enter traditional health distribution channels
8. mHealth market will grow mainly in countries with high Smartphone penetration and health expenditure
9. 2nd generation mHealth applications will focus on chronic diseases
10. mHealth business models will broaden 

The complete report also provides a detailed outlook on future market size and revenue models for mhealth growth trends.  Looking for resource on mobile apps for healthcare?  Check out MCOL’s mhealthshare site, the home for mobile health app information. Visit regularly to keep current on mobile health app developments with health plans, hospitals, medical groups, government, solutions providers and other healthcare business stakeholders. mhealthshare publishes a periodic e-newsletter that features an mhealth factoid, quote, news items, video, blogs, and lists for all the latest happenings for mobile healthcare apps.  View the current edition here, or better yet, sign up for a free subscription to receive periodic editions of the e-newsletter.

Keeping up on Healthcare Reform Requirements

By Claire Thayer, July 15, 2013

By now, many of you have heard the news that The Obama administration announced a one-year delay, until January 1, 2015 in the implementation of the employer mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) for employers with more than 50 full-time equivalent employees provide health care coverage to their full-time employees. Interesting timing, given that according to PwC US's latest Trendsetter Barometer survey, the majority of private companies (56 percent) say they're already in compliance with the upcoming provisions.  Additionally, the PwC survey finds that overall, most private companies (72 percent) consider themselves prepared for the ACA's next wave of requirements. Work remains to be done, however ― only 35 percent of private companies say they are well prepared.  Also, nearly three-fourths (74 percent) of private companies that have 50 or more employees say their healthcare coverage meets the ACA definition of affordability. Complete findings from this survey are here:

PwC Survey: Majority of private companies already in compliance with next wave of healthcare reform requirements. MCOL’s Health Change Bulletin is a free, weekly e-newsletter for health care professionals following health care change and reform initiatives, developments, discussion, and implications, from a variety of perspectives. We encourage you to subscribe to the Health Change Bulletin to keep up on highlights of all the latest health care reform developments!!

Fine-Tuning your E-Mail Subject Line

By Claire Thayer, June 25, 2013

Managing our daily email volumes is a growing task and something tells me yours is too! A report published by The Radicati Group earlier this year estimates that in 2013, the typical corporate user sends and receives about 219 messages daily, up from 167 in 2009. This study confirms a McKinsey Global Institute report that  finds employees spend more than a quarter of their workday (28%) each week reading and answering e-mails. 

Well, if you’re in the advertising business or trying to market your message, it’s more important now than ever to start thinking about creative ways to fine-tune and tweak your email subject line so that your message gets read! Here are a few tips:

• Keep it short. The less the better, many recommending 70 characters or less, and we’ve seen some recommend as few as 15 characters.
• Tell the why. What’s in it for the reader? Give them a compelling reason to open the email.
• Ask a question. This gets direct right away: “Would you like a free subscription to MCOL Basic?
• Personalize. While the email may be distributed to hundreds or even possibly thousands of email addresses, make it personal, using “you” to draw attention.
• Arouse curiosity. Peak the reader’s interest with something unusual, new, odd, unique, compelling.
• Avoid ALL CAPS.  People feel like they're being yelled at when seeing ALL CAPS, who wants that?

We send out emails to close to 150,000 addresses for health care business professionals every month and have lots of ideas of ways to get your email open, just ask us!!

McKinsey Global Institute (MGI) report: The social economy: Unlocking value and productivity through social technologies

http://www.mckinsey.com/insights/high_tech_telecoms_internet/the_social_economy

The Radicati Group report: Email Statistics Report, 2009 - 2013

http://www.radicati.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/email-stats-report-exec-summary.pdf

Businessweek’s: The Art of the E-Mail Subject

http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-06-28/the-art-of-the-e-mail-subject-line

HealthShareTV Videos on Reducing Readmissions

By Claire Thayer, June 10, 2013

Finding ways to reduce and curb hospital readmissions is an important component of reducing overall health care costs. In a video posted on HealthShareTV, Dr. Shari Welch presents a tutorial on Emergency Department Readmissions and discusses how the ER department can help hospitals reduce readmission rates. Watch this 30 minute video here: http://www.healthsharetv.com/content/shari-welch-md-tutorial-emergency-department-readmissions. The HealthShareTV site has several videos posted related to readmissions, here are just a few:

Hundreds of videos are posted on HealthShareTV: http://www.healthsharetv.com.  Topics are range from Accountable care, employers, health plans, reform, insurance exchanges, mobile health, predictive modeling, etc. Use the video finder to quickly drill down to category of interest.

For more information about the Readmissions Reduction Program: http://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Medicare-Fee-for-Service-Payment/AcuteInpatientPPS/Readmissions-Reduction-Program.html

If you are interested in monthly business intelligence and news on this topic, I think you’ll find Readmissions News of interest: http://www.readmissionsnews.com/

Emails at the heart of cross-channel marketing to engage customers

By Claire Thayer, May 30, 2013

Targeted emails are highly effective in terms of end-user engagement, be it consumers or professionals.   According to thinkcomputers.org, in 2013, mobile devices are projected to become the most common tools for accessing the Internet.  In addition, cloud packaged data and analytics are expected to accelerate in 2013 with mobile access to these sources of information.

Email remains an important and powerful means of communication, and according to Experian UK, sits squarely at “the heart of cross-channel marketing.” In April 2013, Experian UK cited research by digital agency Steel, “more than a third of consumers read marketing emails on their mobile, which rises to 55% among 18-34 year olds; a high proportion of many marketers’ target audience. It could be argued that the added functionality that comes with mobile – location based services, the always on mentality, the more obvious call to action – makes for a better, more targeted email experience than that of the desk top. But then what mobile makes up for in engagement, it can lack in delivering true creativity. Both certainly have their benefits. The challenge for email marketers is to ensure that their campaigns render correctly on whichever device the consumer uses to open their email. Whichever way you look at it, email is not dead.”

Check out Digital Trends 2013: Email back in the Spotlight In 2013: http://www.experian.co.uk/blogs/latest-thinking/2013/04/digital-trends-2013-email-back-in-the-spotlight-in-2013/ as well as the MobileGovBlog at http://howtomobile.apps.gov/.

We have lots ideas to help you with your cross-channel marketing efforts – ask us about them!

Recalculating Health Care Spending Projections

By Claire Thayer, May 22, 2013

A new study published in the May 2013 issue of the journal Health Affairs projects that health care spending during the next 10 years will actually be as much as $770 billion below predictions. Here's an abstract from this article.

Despite earlier forecasts to the contrary, US health care spending growth has slowed in the past four years, continuing a trend that began in the early 2000s. In this article we attempt to identify why US health care spending growth has slowed, and we explore the spending implications if the trend continues for the next decade. We find that the 2007–09 recession, a one-time event, accounted for 37 percent of the slowdown between 2003 and 2012. A decline in private insurance coverage and cuts to some Medicare payment rates accounted for another 8 percent of the slowdown, leaving 55 percent of the spending slowdown unexplained. We conclude that a host of fundamental changes—including less rapid development of imaging technology and new pharmaceuticals, increased patient cost sharing, and greater provider efficiency—were responsible for the majority of the slowdown in spending growth. If these trends continue during 2013–22, public-sector health care spending will be as much as $770 billion less than predicted. Such lower levels of spending would have an enormous impact on the US economy and on government and household finances.

More info:

If Slow Rate Of Health Care Spending Growth Persists, Projections May Be Off By $770 Billion. David M. Cutler and Nikhil R. Sahni. content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/5/841.abstract?=right

To view the Table of Contents of the current issue: content.healthaffairs.org/content/current

CMS Releases hospital specific charges for more than 3,000 hospitals

By Claire Thayer, May 8, 2013

Today, CMS announced the release of hospital-specific charges for the more than 3,000 U.S. hospitals that receive Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) payments for the top 100 most frequently billed discharges, paid under Medicare based on a rate per discharge using the Medicare Severity Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) for Fiscal Year (FY) 2011. These DRGs represent almost 7 million discharges or 60 percent of total Medicare IPPS discharges.

For these DRGs, average charges and average Medicare payments are calculated at the individual hospital level. Users will be able to make comparisons between the amount charged by individual hospitals within local markets, and nationwide, for services that might be furnished in connection with a particular inpatient stay.

Access reports from here:

http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/index.html

Comprehensive Assessment of ACA Factors That Will Affect Individual Market Premiums in 2014

By Claire Thayer, May 1, 2013

A new Milliman report, prepared for and at the request of AHIP, outlines how the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) coverage expansion, new benefits, and market reforms will impact individual market health insurance premiums in 2014. The 27 page report highlights how some provisions will increase premiums while others will make health care coverage more affordable for consumers. The report estimates that those eligible for subsidies will receive financial assistance in 2014 to cover, on average, 40 percent of the premium for the silver plan, and as much as 94 percent for those with the lowest incomes. Read more on AHIP's Center for Policy and Research web site: http://www.ahip.org/MillimanReportACA2013/

ACOs now serve 14% of Americans

By Claire Thayer, April 22, 2013

ACOs now serve 14% of Americans according to new research by Oliver Wyman, an increase of 40 percent since August 2012.  This research study finds that the total number of patients in organizations with ACO arrangements with at least one payer—both Medicare and non-Medicare—is now between 37 and 43 million, up from 25 to 31 million—or roughly 14 percent of the population.  If you're in need of Accountable Care decision support analytics, Verisk Health has a white paper that you might find interesting – download directly from this link: http://www.veriskhealth.com/markets/providers/accountable-care-organizations

53% percentage of young adults using social media for healthcare reviews

By Claire Thayer, April 15, 2013

PWC's Health Research Institute released a new report on consumers’ experience in seeking health related information as well as effectiveness of healthcare ratings and reviews.  When consumers in the study were asked on their sources of healthcare reviews, the HRI survey finds that Consumer Reports topped the list of sources, with 43% respondents who have read reviews indicating that they have used the well-known products review source to look for health-related information.  Not surprisingly, there are generational differences too. Consumers age 65 and older prefer government sources for their health-related information, while consumers 18-24 prefer reviews on blogs or social media sites such as Facebook or online patient discussion forums.  For more information about HRI's report - Scoring healthcare: Navigating customer experience ratings, click here: http://www.pwc.com/us/scoringhealthcare

AHIP Announces Launch of new Health System Change Initiative

By Claire Thayer, February 25, 2013

The AHIP Foundation has announced the launch of a new Health System Change Initiative - the Institute for Health Systems Solutions (IHSS). The priorities of the new Institute will focus on:

• Access: Using innovation to improve health care delivery and payment reform
• Innovation: New ideas to improve access
• Smart Regulation: Regulation that creates the fewest unintended consequences

More information, including links to Insights & Resources and News & Activities may be found here: http://www.healthsystemssolutions.org/

ACO Directory 2013

By Claire Thayer, February 5, 2013

Need a resource on Accountable Care Organizations?  Today, HealthQuest Publishers announces the release of The Accountable Care Directory 2013. In this latest edition, you’ll find summary information for 321 selected ACOs, as well as a listing of 1,088 key persons with leadership or operational involvement with the ACO. Also included are Executive Profiles of Accountable Care executives and thought leaders, as well as indexes for easily referencing individuals and organizations included in this Directory.

Watch a one minute video at: http://www.healthsharetv.com/content/accountable-care-directory-2013

More info at: https://www.managedcarestore.com/yhlthqst/hqaco.htm

Mercer introduces new Mercer Marketplace

By Claire Thayer, January 28, 2013

Mercer now offers employers and their employees’ access to a new private benefits exchange, Mercer Marketplace.  The Mercer Marketplace includes over 20 types of benefits, allowing employees to construct a personalized portfolio with traditional core benefits as well as optional voluntary benefits. The new exchange includes qualified benefit designs available from multiple insurance providers. In addition, Mercer Marketplace can facilitate, but does not require, a move to a defined contribution funding.

Learn more at: http://www.mercer.us/articles/mercer-exchange-suite.

The Health Insurance Exchange Directory 2013

By Claire Thayer, January 24, 2013

Looking for contact information the new public and private health insurance exchanges? HealthQuest Publishers, from MCOL, just released a brand new 120+ page directory and database with contact information on health insurance exchanges throughout the country. This new Health Insurance Exchange Directory provides comprehensive contact information for all state-based public exchanges and public partnership exchanges as of January 2013 as well as a number of private exchanges.

Watch a one minute video about the Health Insurance Exchange Directory:

www.healthsharetv.com/content/health-insurance-exchange-directory-intro-video

The Health Insurance Exchange Directory includes a contact database and encompasses:

• Organizational Directory of 50 selected HIXs.  Contact and summary information along with a listing of 350 key individuals with leadership or operational involvement. Almost half of employees in the directory have email address listed.
• Executive Profiles providing contact and biographical information for 75 executives and thought leaders involved with Health Insurance Exchanges representing a wide range of organizations including exchanges, health plans, consulting groups, associations and others.
• Indexes for convenient navigation and reference organized six different ways
• Contact Database with all the information from the Organizational Directory and the Executive Profiles in an Excel spreadsheet. It includes tabs for Organizational Directory organizations, employees and Executive Profile employees.

Learn more at: www.managedcarestore.com/yhlthqst/hqhix.htm