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The New “Patient Centered Health Plan” Video

3 Responses

1. Hope R. Hetico RN MHA, on June 2, 2014 at 6:56 PM said:

   Five Steps to Opening a Health Savings Account

   1.Learn the basics. An HSA is a savings account available to American taxpayers who have health insurance coverage under a high-deductible plan.

   2.Find out if you are eligible. To be eligible to open an HSA, you must: Be covered by an HSA-compatible health insurance plan with a high deductible and not enrolled in Medicare.

   3.Get real about your budget. In order for an HSA to be beneficial, you have to have funds to contribute in the first place.

   4.Choose how to enroll. While you can enroll in an HSA on your own at any time, they are often available through your employer during their open enrollment period.

   5.Start contributing. For 2013, the maximum amount an individual can add to an HSA is $3,250. Families can contribute a maximum amount of $6,450.

   Source: GoHealthInsurance

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2. Cyndy Nayer, on December 20, 2014 at 5:18 PM said:

   Patient Centered Care

   The emergence of the patient as the ultimate health care decision-maker has clearly been a thread of most of the blogs lately. But, what has been missed is how the patient has become a much more sophisticated and savvy consumer of health care. What we see here is the intersection of consumer behavior with patient engagement, which I’ve termed consumer centricity

   However, even this more sophisticated arbiter of health care usefulness is not the real storyline going forward. The trend with the significant potential to impact the business of health care is the accelerated number of collisions of consumerism, transparency, and open data.

   To create a metaphor on popular books/movies right now, we are witnessing the emergence of the consumer from the black hole of data confidentiality.

   In the movie, and in his books, Stephen Hawking notes that while he’s discovered and mapped black holes in the universe, he’s spent most of his life looking for the answers that would prove the black hole theory wrong: that energy (light) can escape. He recently published the research that shows that, along the event horizon (the edge of the black hole), light does escape, and this means that, if an astronaut fell into a black hole in space, he/she can escape by moving toward the event horizon, another name for the black hole border.

   Let’s put the same words to work for the consumer of health care who is seeking to maximize his/her investment (dollars, deductibles, and time) to get healthier. The black hole that has imprisoned data-costs, amounts paid, negotiated fees, quality indicators of safety-experience, and more-were held as the proprietary domain of the health plans and hospitals. Data went in, never to be seen again, as if the energy of the data and what stories it could tell was a light source only seen by the health plan or system administrators.

   Now, with HiTECH, ONC, and more, and with the expansion of BlueButton and portable health care records, we see light around the edges. On social media, the light is emboldening consumers to share stories of costs, outcomes, wait times, job interference, and more. The light is escaping, and people are sharing information on how to use the light, what it’s meant to them, and what to look out for.

   McKinsey estimates that open data is worth $3T to the economy, creating jobs and reducing waste/costs. By comparison, the cost of the first rocket ship to Mars is estimated at $7.02B, and the costs of MRIs can range from $400 to $3500 or more. Sharing data with researchers, policy makers, developers, and patients can illuminate the variability of care and costs, thereby forging a path to health security that business and families have been seeking. It’s a table that many of us are setting right now.

   We have seen some of the health care astronauts leaving the black hole. One of my favorites is ClearHealthCosts.com , where people report the invoiced/paid/out-of-pocket costs and outcomes of screenings, surgeries, and more. In fact, ClearHealthCosts was highlighted recently in NEJM, JAMA, Politico, Current, HBRonline. Iodine is another astronaut emerging into the light, also using crowdsourced [people on social media] data for drug costs and information.

   We, as consumers, are quickly learning to use the amazing IT innovations that are coming forward to create a constellation of information that helps us everyday, and our providers when we need them. Wearables, sensors, and open data sources are a fast-growing trend that is being overlooked by many health systems and plan sponsors.

   While we moan about the exchanges, the taxes, and the inequities in the US health care system, the system has moved from the conservator of data (the black hole of proprietary-ness) and is timidly edging toward broader release of the data into the hands of those who make the ultimate decisions of engaging in their personal health and wealth. With this new trend and adoption growing, the consumer can rise to be the CEO of her or his health decisions, accountable for outcomes in everyday life.

   The rocket ships are airlifting the early pioneer astronauts off of the event horizons. The real beauty in watching the formation of new stars and new astronauts is the light they give off and the wisdom they impart to the culture of health.

   Cyndy Nayer
   [President-CyndyNayer.com]
   Founder/CEO of Center of Health Engagements

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3. Helen, on August 26, 2015 at 5:29 PM said:

   “People” Centered Care

   The new term is “People” Centered Care since healthy folks are people; not patients.

   Helen

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