April 2008

Dipping Into the CDH PR Well Again

Employers like consumer directed healthcare plans because they can save money, but employees may not be so in love with them according to a recent Watson/National Business Group on Health survey.

So not surprisingly adoption rates are low and will remain so until the tools and education efforts become pervasively available to consumers. Not to mention a track record of success showing these CDH plans provide good care and value.

For PR practitioners with vendors who offer CDH tool, I recommend using this survey to generate conversation with media and interest in the topic of CDHP adoption. Illustrate how your tool or solution helps consumers navigate the complex world of CDH, be it from a financial, educational, or comparative perspective. Reporters particularly like hearing the real consumer perspective, so try to deliver real consumer references of your product.

According to the survey, by 2009, nearly 55% of U.S. corporations plan on offering a consumer-directed health plan.  The findings also show that 47% of employers currently offer a CDHP, an increase from 39% in 2007 and 33% in 2006.

Companies with at least half of their workforce enrolled in a CDHP had a two-year median cost trend of 3.6%, almost half that of employers without a CDHP. Companies with a CDHP witnessed a two-year cost increase of 5.5% versus 7% for companies without a CDHP.

Only 15% of employees at organizations that offer CDHPs are enrolled in the plans this year, up from 8% in 2006 and 10% in 2007. Yet only 6% of employers report 100% enrollment in a CDHP, which is expected to rise to 9% in 2009.

Today, 27% of companies offer CDHPs with a health savings account (HSA), while 24% offer a health reimbursement account (HRA). Notably, employers are three times more likely to add an HSA (9%) than an HRA (3%) in 2009.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 28, 2008 at 12:43 PM
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Good Business Writing: An Oxymoron?

Our Next Installment in a Continuing Series on Healthcare IT PR Tactics and Strategies

Despite the industry being run predominantly by English and journalism majors (I find public relations majors to be the most ill-fit for PR, but that’s a topic for another post), public relations is unfortunately prone to abuse of the English language. Creative obfuscation is rampant. The world of high tech PR is the worst offender.

There is a delightful book by Brian Fugere, A Bullfighter’s Guide: Why Business People Speak Like Idiots, that explores this problem. Yes, it is the business executives who drive much of PR’s language of meaningless buzz phrases. Eventually the PR people write this way themselves, the morass of corporate-speak overcoming any instincts of clear language they once had. Strunk and White are doubtless turning over in their graves.

If I had my way, press releases and other written documents would be very different. But I rarely get my way. Reporters however do, and I’d like to share this entertaining piece by Gary Baldwin, editor of HealthLeaders. His comments should be heeded by healthcare IT marketers. I say should be, but the sad truth is they won’t be.

“Say What?
 
Gary Baldwin, for HealthLeaders Media, April 15, 2008

Here in Chicago, I participate in a public speaking group, Toastmasters International. One of our goals is communicating without using clichés, jargon, and hyperbole. This is no easy goal for someone steeped in healthcare IT, as I am deluged with all three. By way of example, I offer the following excerpts from recent press releases. These appear in their raw, unedited form (with the exception of a hospital name I excised), bizarre capitalization and all. Welcome to my world of end-to-end, layered, and revolutionary solutions that are continuously enhancing quality improvement across the enterprise.

Complete and end-to-end
Perimeter eSecurity, the only provider of Complete Security On Demand, today launched their electronic Protected Health Information offering, ePHISecurity. ePHISecurity is the first and only on demand layered IT security solution for healthcare organizations. Entities covered under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) of 1996 now have access to a complete, end-to-end security infrastructure, with over 50 pre-integrated security services, that traditionally only large healthcare organizations could implement and afford.

Gary’s comment:

To continue reading, hit the "Continue Reading" link below

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Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 21, 2008 at 10:26 AM
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Acute EMR Short List

Healthcare IT markers in the acute EMR side may be interested in this upcoming complimentary Webinar from analyst firm Health Industry Insights.

Inpatient EMR – The IT Supplier Short List
May 1, 2008
3:00-4:00 pm
Register Here

According to Health Industry Insights, market factors have driven strong demand for implementation of inpatient clinical electronic medical record (EMR) systems and hospitals are in a constant cycle of installing, replacing, upgrading or adding functionality to support inpatient EMRs. The questions faced by EMR implementers include:

•    What functionality matters - and what doesn't?
•    What tradeoffs need to be made?  And what tradeoffs should be avoided?
•    Does spending less mean getting less?
•    How do I tell if my organization and the vendor are a good fit?
•    How can I prepare my organization for EMR implementation?  What needs to happen first? 
•    How do I get stakeholders on board?

While all organizations will face initial implementation hurdles, the fit of the application, vendor and implementation process with the organization can dramatically lessen this impact, and drive early benefits.

According to Health Industry Insights, it's becoming increasingly clear that EMRs are not one-size-fits-all, and that taking the specific needs of an organization into account is essential to making projects successful. Alignment of the provider's strategic goals with that of the vendor and making smart tradeoffs during the selection process can drive the success or failure of EMR implementation. 

Join Health Industry Insights’ analyst Judy Hanover for a complimentary web conference covering Health Industry Insights’ new Healthcare Provider Industry Short List – a look at 9 IT suppliers and their inpatient EMR systems.

Health Industry Insights’ Short Lists are fact-based tools designed to help IT and business executives to review a short list of IT suppliers that best address the industry-specific needs of the business, to facilitate a technology buying-decision process. The EMR Shortlist tool is designed to provide a customized, fact-based analysis for individual projects that can help guide decisions for stakeholders.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 16, 2008 at 2:19 PM
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Medical Record Paparazzi

Ahnald is angry and calling for tighter medical record security after his records, his wife’s and those of 32 other celebrities were breached.  The ex-Terminator told the Los Angeles Times that he’s been a victim of unauthorized snooping following heart, hip and shoulder operations.

Is that any surprise? I’m sure it happens all the time, whether it be medical, police or other public institution records. It’s politically convenient to raise the issue as part of a broader healthcare platform.

The former Conan the Barbarian said that every time he left the operating room he was told that people were going through his file. They had white coats on and snuck into the hospital, "They had nothing to do with the hospital staff at all," he told the Times.

California's health department said the agency would sanction the UCLA Medical Center after confirmation that improper hospital workers had accessed medical records of more than 60 patients.  In the past, a handful of UCLA employees were fired after an audit showed patients medical records had been violated. 

Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 11, 2008 at 1:55 PM
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NY Loves RHIO

In a vote of confidence in regional healthcare information organizations (RHIOs), the state of New York gave out  $105 million in grants recently. Among the 19 grants, Brooklyn’s Health Information Exchange snagged the largest grant of $12.7 million.

The Empire state's HCIT goals include supporting Medicaid providers, streamlining public health reporting and monitoring, increasing patients’ involvement in their care, and improving the quality of care.

In a press conference, New York pointed out how they are giving more money out than the Federal government office headed by Kolodner. This financial support by New York is an example of how state governments can help increase adoption of technology.

From the healthcare IT marketers perspective, any vendors with New York customers part of these grants should consider ways of promoting their involvement, from a simple congratulations letter to a press release. Others ideas include pitching such customers to the media as case studies, as part of RHIO trend stories, for joint bylines with your executives or as speaking engagement case study submissions.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 7, 2008 at 2:54 PM
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Frankenstein vs. BC CA

E-newsletter FierceHealthcare reported on Blue Cross of CA's attempt to enlist doctors to help expose patient’s healthcare discrepancies in order to cancel policies (read below). This is of course troubling, though not surprising (do health plans have ulterior motives like this in pushing PHRs?) 

Even more troubling is the existence of Dr. Frankenstein, who is head of the California Medical Association. This Dr. Richard Frankenstein was “outraged” by Blue Cross’ action.  I would be careful Blue Cross. Dr. Frankenstein doubtless has powerful progeny who you do not want to meet on a dark and stormy night, unless you have a lot of torches.

“Blue Cross of California has raised eyebrows around the state, and sparked protests from some physician groups, by sending medical groups applications filled out by beneficiaries and asking the doctors, in effect, if the patients lied about their health. With the applications, which went out to large medical groups who have capitation contracts with the health plan, Blue Cross advised doctors to narc on patients who had any conditions not listed on the applications. This is just the latest in the plan's attempts to aggressively weed out sick patients. Blue Cross has already faced the ire of regulators for issuing policies then canceling them when the patients incur big medical bills.

The Good Doctor, Before His Outrage

The letter and accompanying application "outraged" the California Medical Association, according to president Dr. Richard Frankenstein. He argues that with doctors in the role of police, patients may be afraid to share their whole medical history with doctors, putting their health at risk. The association has sent a letter to state regulators asking them to order Blue Cross to stop asking doctors for patient information. A spokesperson for the state insurance commissioner said that while their office hadn't gotten any complaints about the letter, they consider it "extremely troubling," in that it effectively places doctors in the role of underwriters.”

The Villain of our Tale

Post Script.  A few weeks later, BlueCross of California relented before the outrage of Dr. Frankenstein and his physician minions. Policy changed. Happy ending.

Posted by Shawn Whalen on April 1, 2008 at 6:06 AM
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