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An Emerging Trend Vital to Hospitals
[By Staff Reporters]
According to Associate Professor Gregory O. Ginn; PhD, MBA, CPA, MEd., of the University of Las Vegas, an important emerging trend today is consumer-driven healthcare [CDHC] as patients become more knowledgeable and demanding about the quality of care they receive.
Definition
According to the Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care, CDHC refers to health insurance plans that allow members to use personal Health Savings Accounts (HSAs), or similar medical payment products to pay routine health care expenses directly, while a high-deductible health insurance policy protects them from catastrophic medical expenses. High-deductible policies cost less, but the user pays routine medical claims using a pre-funded spending account, often with a special debit card provided by a bank or insurance plan. If the balance on this account runs out, the user then pays claims just like under a regular deductible. Users keep any unused balance or “rollover” at the end of the year to increase future balances, or to invest for future expenses.
Benefits Managers and Corporate America
Benefits managers in particular are proponents of consumer-driven healthcare. They argue that employers should focus on which plans create the most value, go with quality, get employees to pay more, and move to a defined contribution approach. The concept of consumer-driven healthcare is being implemented in employer strategies to change participant and provider strategies. This trend stimulates competition among providers based on both price and quality and forces providers to offer more information about cost and quality. Providers who successfully differentiate their strategies to respond to this trend may benefit financially.
Hospital Operations
Consumer-driven healthcare will have major ramifications for the operations management function in hospitals. In order for hospitals to compete on both price and quality, they will need to develop greater flexibility in order to differentiate their service offerings. Such flexibility is not likely to occur without sophisticated information systems that allow for data integration.
Assessment
Of course, considerable staffing and training changes may be in order to provide this type of service.
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OUR OTHER PRINT BOOKS AND RELATED INFORMATION SOURCES:
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- Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance
- Dictionary of Health Information Technology and Security
- Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care
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Filed under: Health Economics, Health Insurance, Health Law & Policy, Healthcare Finance | Tagged: CDHC, consumer driven health care |
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 
Examples of Growing Tension in Healthcare Services Markets,
According to Robert James Cimasi, MHA, of Health Capital Consultants, LLC in St. Louis, and many others, the managed care revolution and changes in reimbursement for Medicare services through the introduction of prospective payment systems and payment cuts have forced healthcare providers to look for more efficient ways to provide services, as well as additional sources of revenue and margin-producing business.
With the rise of corporate healthcare provider networks and health systems, together with rising healthcare costs, competition among providers has become prevalent in the healthcare industry. Strict control of reimbursement costs from payers; reduction in traditional hospital inpatient use; closer regulation from both the state and federal governments; and higher costs of capital have all contributed to the trend for hospitals to form large centralized corporate enterprises.
These competitive topics, and more, are discussed in the print-journal.
http://www.HealthcareFinancials.com
And, MSA/HSAs and other consumer directed health plan initiatives are the modern results. More will be forthcoming in the future.
Rachel Pentin-Maki; RN, MHA
Ft. Worth, FLA
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2010 will be an important year as CDHPs test whether they will ever be more than a niche product for the relatively healthy, intelligent and wealthy.
Some continue to see niche status for this line, but you never know.
Abbey
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Will HSAs Survive Obama Care?
http://www.westandfirm.org/blog/2010/01/will-obamacare-kill-hsa.html
Judson
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CDHCPs and MSAs
Advocates of consumer directed health plans (CDHPs) and MSAs argue that it’s principally the degree third-party payment that should be adjusted. But, if patients directly pay more for their care they’ll make better decisions about what care to buy and how much it is worth.
Now, there is something to this notion. It’s not obviously wrong. But, it’s not obviously right either. What do you think?
Jane
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Doctors Beware HSAs?
As all ME-P readers know, Health savings accounts (HSA’s) were created under “The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003, as a consumer-driven mechanism to combat rising medical inflation.
They promote savings for future health related expenses and allow consumers to be more judicious with their health care expenditures. But, are they a good deal for the medical providers? Many thinks so; others not so much
http://www.physiciansnews.com/2011/10/07/health-savings-accounts-provider-beware/
Lauren
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Learn how Consumer Driven Health Plans put you in charge of your healthcare
HSA Bank via YouTube:
http://www.healthsharetv.com/content/hsa-banks-consumer-driven-health-plan-overview
There is no minimum, so you can start small. Consumer Driven Health Plans help you pay for eligible medical expenses with tax-favored funds, all while reducing your taxable income.
Stewart
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