Author: eric

Blockchain is proving itself for real-world healthcare applications

Experts from IEEE, UC San Diego and Health Linkages say the key is to make sure it’s the “right solution for the right problem.”

“Even if you don’t think blockchain is overhyped (and many people do), you may still be convinced that whatever real-world promise it holds for healthcare is either too far in the theoretical future to think much about, or it’s not yet worth the effort to implement. Whether it’s AI and machine learning, clinical trial recruitment, empowering patients to manage their own health records, IoT and assorted other clinical applications, IEEE is already deeply entrenched in advancing a wide array of uses for blockchain, said Palombini. ‘Some of the core principles of blockchain apply to healthcare,’ added Tim Mackey, director of the Global Health Policy Institute at UC San Diego. ‘This immutable distributed ledger can better ensure the resilience and provenance, traceability and management of healthcare data,'” Read the full article.

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Medicare Advantage gets supplemental benefits flexibility, including for transport

MA plans must still offer all enrollees uniform benefits, premiums and cost sharing.

“Under the bipartisan budget deal signed by the president in February, Congress expanded supplemental benefits for the chronically ill to include those that “have a reasonable expectation of improving or maintaining the health or overall function of the chronically ill enrollee and may not be limited to being primarily health related benefits.” The law also authorizes CMS to waive uniformity requirements, but only with respect to supplemental benefits for enrollees with chronic conditions. As healthcare’s focus shifts increasingly to population health, barriers such as transportation and food and housing insecurity are entering the equation of what it means to be and remain healthy. Without a reliable ride, for example, patients may miss scheduled appointments or fall treatment regimens, increasing the likelihood of more costly care in the future.” Read the full article.

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6 things keeping CIOs up at night

CIOs are acutely aware of the security complications medical devices and telehealth bring.

“Last month, LexisNexis brought together 30 high-level executives, most of whom were CIOs from hospitals, nursing homes and health plans of all sizes from across the county to find out what data-related issues are weighing on them most as we get further into 2018. Ed Domansky, LexisNexis manager of media and analyst relations, and Erin Benson, Director of market planning, said six major themes emerged from their responses. It seems merger and acquisition activity sent waves through the information security sector as well, adding complexity in several areas. Also, innovation continues to be a multifaceted undertaking in that while it can yield clinical and operational gains it also means adding another dimension of risk, especially where security is concerned.” Read the full article.

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AHIP asks CMS to change Medicare Advantage payment formula

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should update its county benchmark calculation in the 2019 final notice being published April 2.

“America’s Health Insurance Plans is asking the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to change the way the agency calculates Medicare Advantage payment rates, ahead of a final notice due out Monday. AHIP said it strongly believes CMS should update its benchmark calculation in the 2019 final notice. These reflect spending for enrollees with only Medicare Part A for care in hospitals and other facilities, enrollees with only Medicare Part B, which covers physician visits and medical supplies and enrollees with both Medicare Parts A and B. This method captures the expenditures of all Medicare beneficiaries, regardless of whether they’re in Part A, B or both. MA plans are required to provide coverage for all services included under both Parts A and B. AHIP said the cost data for beneficiaries who are only in Medicare Part A – for hospitalization – should be excluded from calculating MA payment rates. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission has also recommended that CMS revise the calculation of benchmarks.” Read the full article.

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Better choices needed to manage US healthcare cost growth, says Paul Krugman at HIMSS18

Economist Paul Krugman says more scrutiny on elective procedures could contribute to a long-term solution.
“Though the U.S. still has the highest healthcare costs in the world, there are a few options that could be used to dig out of that — any of which would be better than the current state, said Krugman, which he described with a quote from Homer Simpson: “The U.S. government is an insurance company with an army.” To Krugman, “Medicaid looks more like the systems in other countries and is a well-established system. But if the goal was the cheapest care, we’d do something like the NHS — but I don’t see that happening in my lifetime.” While a single-payer system is expensive, costs can be mitigated by a system that would more carefully scrutinize unnecessary elective treatments.” Read the full article.
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Predictive analytics can spot patients not taking their medicine

While the U.S. spends billions of dollars developing new therapeutics, those investments won’t do much good if the drugs aren’t taken as physicians say they should be. 
“Using big data to find incidents of medication nonadherence, and using it to tailor patient interventions, is a key component to population health. Any health system trying to tackle population health management in any meaningful way has to grapple with the challenge of patients who don’t adhere to their care plans – especially those who, for whatever reason, don’t take their medicines in the way they were prescribed. “Medication nonadherence is a massive public health problem,” said Niteesh K. Choudhry, MD, executive director of the Center for Healthcare Delivery Sciences at Boston’s Brigham and Women’s Hospital,” Read the full article.
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HealthAxis Group presenting at the AMIA 2018 Clinical Informatics Conference

HealthAxis Group’s Chief Medical Information Officer, Dr. Cyril Spiro, is presenting at the American Medical Informatics Association 2018 Clinical Informatics Conference

Location: The Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

From Date: May 8, 2018 To: May 10, 2018

 

Detecting Post-approval Adverse Drug Events within EHR Data: A Case Study Correlating Lipophilic Beta-blockers with the Subsequent Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease
H. Zhang, G. Jetley, University of South Florida; K. Raghavan, J. Philius, HealthAxis; R. Houser, University of South Florida; C. Spiro, HealthAxis

HealthAxis Group, a healthcare technology company, today announced that Dr. Cyril Spiro, MD, Chief Medical Information Officer at HealthAxis Group, will present results from study in partnership with the University of South Florida at the American Medical Informatics Association 2018 Clinical Informatics Conference to be held from May 8-10, 2018 in Scottsdale, AZ.

The presentation by Dr. Spiro will provide an overview of how EHR data within healthcare facilities can be utilized to detect novel, serious post-FDA approval Adverse Drug Events (ADE) by employing algorithms that can run with minimal supervision and hardware/software resources. As an example, it is demonstrated how the method was used to detect a correlation between the use of Lipophilic Beta-Blockers and the subsequent diagnosis of Parkinson’s disease.

The details of the presentation are as follows:

Title:          Detecting Post-approval Adverse Drug Events within EHR Data: A Case Study Correlating Lipophilic Beta-blockers with the Subsequent Diagnosis of Parkinson’s Disease
H. Zhang, G. Jetley, University of South Florida; K. Raghavan, J. Philius, HealthAxis; R. Houser, University of South Florida; C. Spiro, HealthAxis
Date:        Thursday, May 10, 2018
Time: 9:15 AM – 10:15 AM
Session:       Identifying Medication Risk
Location: The Scottsdale Plaza Resort, Scottsdale, AZ

 

For more information and to view the schedule, visit: https://www.amia.org/cic2018/presentations

 

Consumers open to more digital health use, survey finds

Consumers are also using a wider array of digital health tools, according to the survey, which found a three-fold increase in mobile and tablet health apps over the past four years
“Increasing consumer demand for digital health services is transforming the care delivery team, putting patients and technologies in the driver’s seat alongside physicians, a new Accenture survey suggests. The survey of 2,301 U.S. consumers finds greater acceptance of virtual medical encounters, artificial intelligence and other machine-based services being part of their healthcare experience. One in five respondents said they have previously used AI-enabled healthcare services and most said they expect to use them in the future. Of those, 66% cited home-based diagnostics, 61% cited virtual health assistants and 55% cited virtual nurse monitoring of health conditions, medications and vital signs.” Read the full article.
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HealthAxis Group to exhibit at BCBS National Summit 2018

HealthAxis Group to exhibit at BlueCross BlueShield 2018 National Summit in Orlando, FL

Location: Orlando World Center Marriott, Orlando, FL

From Date: May 1, 2018 To: May 4, 2018

 

HealthAxis Group, a leading IT solutions provider for healthcare payers, will be exhibiting at BlueCross BlueShield 2018 National Summit at Orlando World Center Marriott in Orlando, FL, May 1-4, 2018, booth #333.  We will be showcasing our core stack technology platform for Managed Care Organizations, Insurance Companies, Delegated Risk Bearing Provider Organizations, ACO’s, ASO’s and TPA’s.  This will include HealthAxis’s Core Benefit Administration System and Web-Based Self-Service Portals, as well as, providing further information on our Analytics and Provider Solutions.

The 2018 National Summit is the premier Blue Cross Blue Shield conference of the year, assembling professionals from across the Blue Cross Blue Shield System to share best practices, ideas for growth, gather insights from keynote addresses and breakout sessions and much more. Blue Cross Blue Shield Plan attendees come to learn from the best speakers, and to discuss issues and challenges with industry experts to learn about the latest solutions.

Michael Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President of Business Development at HealthAxis Group, stated “HealthAxis Group is shaping the future of healthcare technology with forward-thinking core administrative system platforms.  We look forward to presenting our latest generation, Determinants® driven, healthcare technology platform for Health Plans, at the BlueCross BlueShield 2018 National Summit and working with potential partners by providing best-in-class performance, value and cost efficiencies, that ultimately translate to better member/patient health outcomes.”

For more information on our suite of solutions please contact us at 1-(888) 974-2947 (AXIS) or email info@healthaxis.com.

For more information about BlueCross BlueShield Association visit: https://www.bcbs.com/

About HealthAxis Group, LLC

Through its affiliated companies, HealthAxis Group provides outstanding information technology and service solutions that help payers and providers work more efficiently and collaborate to deliver better health with improved efficiency and lower costs. HealthAxis Group helps healthcare organizations address compliance; improve administrative efficiency; lower cost, and improve quality and delivery of care. Payer solutions include benefits administration platforms, web portals, network & application management, consulting, BPO, and transaction services. Provider offerings include practice management solutions, electronic medical records, and technology services that help providers operate more efficiently and effectively.

Media contacts: HealthAxis Group, info@healthaxis.com

About BlueCross BlueShield Association

Blue Cross Blue Shield Association is a federation of 36 separate United States health insurance organizations and companies, providing health insurance in the United States to more than 106 million people. Blue Cross was founded in 1929 and became the Blue Cross Association in 1960, while Blue Shield emerged in 1939 and the Blue Shield Association was created in 1948. The two organizations merged in 1982.

HealthAxis Group to exhibit at APG Annual Conference 2018

HealthAxis Group to exhibit at America’s Physician Groups (Formerly CAPG) Annual Conference 2018

Location: Manchester Grand Hyatt, San Diego, CA

From Date: April 19, 2018 To: April 21, 2018

 

HealthAxis Group, a leading IT solutions provider for healthcare payers, including TPA’s and insurance companies, will be exhibiting at America’s Physician Groups (Formerly CAPG) Annual Conference 2018 at Manchester Grand Hyatt in San Diego, CA April 19-21, 2018, booth #112. We will be showcasing our core stack technology platform for delegated Risk Bearing Provider Organizations, including our Core Benefit Administration System and Web-Based Self-Service Portals, as well as, providing further information on our Provider Solutions, which includes EHR/PM and Doctor Dial.

Michael Postlethwaite, Senior Vice President of Business Development at HealthAxis Group, stated “HealthAxis Group’s healthcare technology portfolio fits perfectly in line with America’s Physician Groups Mission and Vision. We are shaping the future of healthcare technology with forward-thinking core administrative system platforms that allow delegated and responsible managed care and risk bearing organizations the system and administrative tools to deliver comprehensive, coordinated care, with a higher level of user functionality, control, and analytics. We look forward to working with potential partners by providing improved value and cost efficiencies that ultimately lead to better member/patient health outcomes.” For more information on our suite of solutions please contact us at 1-(888) 974-2947 (AXIS) or email info@healthaxis.com.

For more information about America’s Physician Groups Annual Conference 2018, and to register, visit:

America’s Physician Groups