By ADRIAN GROPPER MD

Obama is smart. His signing of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health

(HITECH) Act (as part of the Stimulus package) recognizes the
importance of health IT as the foundation for health care reform and
cost savings. Good data and good consumer experience is a way to drive
a policy consensus when payment reform and health reform come to a vote
on Capitol Hill.

Technology certification and meaningful health
records exchange are the cornerstones of the HITECH Act. Health IT
should be engineered to promote transparency in health care
effectiveness and to reduce regional differences. To achieve this, the
secretary of HHS must ensure that scope of the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) does not extend beyond hospital health records.

HHS
must stimulate reform through systems and services innovation. As with
previous federal actions, such as the the break-up of the AT&T
monopoly, HHS can enable future generations of innovation by excluding
health information exchange and patient-controlled health records from
the domain of CCHIT, big hospital and big vendor interests.

Continue reading…

By TANISHA CARINO

Medicare could immediately modernize its benefit structure by incorporating value-based insurance 
design (VBID) into the Part D program.  This benefit design tool maps directly to the new Administration’s goals of improving quality and preventing complications of illness—and, as I’ll point out, it can be implemented without any new legislation.

VBID abandons the traditional approach of uniformly applying cost sharing to health services regardless of their effect on a patient’s health.  Instead, VBID tailors cost sharing—so, the more clinically beneficial the service is to a patient, the lower that individual’s cost sharing for the service.  In some cases, employers such as Marriott and Pitney Bowes have actually eliminated cost sharing associated with diabetes medications and achieved positive cost and quality outcomes.

With more than 26 million enrollees, Medicare Part D is a large target for this type of innovative, quality-focused benefit design.  The 23% of Medicare beneficiaries who have five or more chronic conditions account for 68% of the program’s spending, and there is heavy reliance on medication to treat chronic illness.

Continue reading…

Consumers
spent $6.7 billion dollars on video Gaming4Health in 2007. iConecto
is the expert in applying health e-games, social media, virtual worlds and
immersive simulations for better health and performance.  The “Health eGames Market Report” is available now… contact
in**@******to.com.  Visit www.Gaming4Health.com for news and
insights.

According to ConnextionsHealth, growing losses of
individual and group plan members are eroding acquisition costs,
profitability and competitive advantage at all major health plans,
making member retention a strategic priority for 2009. At some health
insurers, member turnover is running as high as 40%. Further, McKinsey
& Co. found that health plans capture less than 10% of members lost
through job termination, early retirement and elimination of
employer-funded coverage. This “employee transition” market segment
alone is estimated at $40 billion annually.To address this
emerging market need, ConnextionsHealth and World Health Care Congress
are hosting a first-of-its-kind Leadership Summit on Member Retention
for Health Plans scheduled for March 18-19, 2009 in Orlando, FL. 
Designed for health plan senior executives, the Summit will provide an
insider’s look into the underlying issues and successful strategies for
retaining individual and small group plan members and building brand
loyalty. More information is available at www.worldcongress.com/retention.

What's fair in managed care? Get involved. Join the conversation. FAIR
is an emerging national grassroots movement focused on changing the
debate about health care costs and holding managed care companies
responsible for their behavior.  Supported by patients, hospitals,
physicians, business owners and policy makers, FAIR brings a unified
voice to the table at the peak of a national discussion on health care
reform.

Health Support Systems offers disease management tools, personal health records, health risk
assessment tools, group health reports, remote monitoring solutions,
patient alerts and more – through web and mobile phones. Become a
channel partner and offer our products; support services to your
customers – with your branding. Contact *****@******************ms.com“>sa***@******************ms.com
for more information.

By Val JONES MD

Rumor has it that Sanjay Gupta
is no longer in the running for the office of Surgeon General. Many
peopl
e had voiced their concerns about his potential nomination
(including Paul Krugman, Maggie Mahar, Gary Schwitzer, Dr. David Gorski, and myself)
and it looks as if his lack of experience or training in matters of
public health, along with a history of industry ties has put the kabosh
on his nomination.

So who will be our next Surgeon General? It’s hard to say, but a petition is circulating on behalf of Dr. George Lundberg – a fine nominee for the position in my opinion. Let me explain why.

A review of Dr. Lundberg’s curriculum vitae easily
establishes his professional qualifications for the position. Not only
has he been one of the longest standing Editors-In-Chief of all the
American Medical Association journals (including JAMA), and the founder of the world’s first open-access, peer reviewed online medical journal (Medscape Journal of Medicine)
but has served in an advisory capacity to everyone from the World
Health Organization, to AHRQ, the Joint Commission, Harvard’s School of
Public Health, the Department of Health and Human Services, Food and
Drug Administration and the Surgeon General of the US Navy. He is also
a prolific and influential writer, having authored 149 peer-reviewed
articles, 204 editorials, and 39 books or book chapters. Dr. Lundberg
has a large and devoted national and international audience and is
highly esteemed by all who know him.

Continue reading…