Spotlight

For providers, EHR technology minimizes pain and maximizes gain

A recent editorial in The New York Times noted that electronic health records (EHRs) could "save substantial money" because they will "help eliminate the costly repetition of tests, and prevent medication errors that harm patients and lead to costly hospitalization." At the same time, the paper noted, "it takes money to get started."

With these goals -- and challenges -- in mind, the federal government has already taken steps to help physicians implement EHR technologies. The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 allocates $19 billion for health care information technology, including up to five years of Medicare incentive payments -- which range from $42,500 to $63,750 -- to eligible physicians who meet "meaningful use" criteria for integrating EHRs into their practices. These carrots, however, are soon followed by sticks. The Act imposes escalating reductions in reimbursements for non-adoption of EHRs after the end of the five-year period.

Physicians need to understand that just being connected is not enough to qualify for stimulus reimbursements, explained Russ Keene, vice president, Ingenix. "Doctors who invested in server-based systems have found that they are expensive, are only used by a portion of the market and haven't moved the needle on quality and cost, which means they will not achieve that benchmark." Click here to continue reading this article online. Blank (8/25)

Employers

Study shows positive ROI for wellness incentives
A new study shows that more than 80% of companies that measure their wellness incentives' effectiveness realized greater than dollar-for-dollar returns on their investments. "During tough economic times, employees who take control of their health and are more engaged and active in their own health are valuable assets," said the president of Health2 Resources, which conducted the study. PlanSponsor.com (8/7)

Employers' experience should be studied for health care reform efforts
A number of companies, such as Texas Instruments, have experience managing health care costs that has led them to discover a number of best practices in areas such as prevention and benefits design. The government should tap this knowledge while it grapples with reforming the national health care system. Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Texas) (8/15)

Close relationships with effective doctors can lead to workers' comp cost reductions
Self-insured employers have been able to lower their workers' compensation costs and improve return-to-work outcomes by forming close relationships with certain health care providers and rewarding them for effective treatment. "The most important thing you can do on a comp claim is refer the newly injured employee to the best doctor," said one expert. Business Insurance (8/24)

Sabbaticals can be a retention tool, morale booster
Sabbaticals can serve as a positive alternative to cutting jobs -- an alternative that can increase retention and boost morale for workers. "The benefits of sabbaticals far outweigh the perceived unorthodoxy," said the co-founder of a company that sets up such programs. Employee Benefit News (8/1)

Employers asked to pitch in to help manage swine flu outbreaks
The U.S. government is asking employers to take an active role in helping to contain swine flu by vaccinating or encouraging vaccination of at-risk workers and asking sick employees to avoid coming to the workplace. "For this effort to be successful we need businesses to do their part," said the secretary of the Commerce Department. Google/The Associated Press (8/19)

Hospitals

CMS allows hospitals to test gain-sharing programs with physicians
The CMS is letting 12 hospitals in New Jersey test gain-sharing programs under which the hospitals pay doctors incentives of up to $300, depending on the type of patient, to save the facilities money. Hundreds of physicians in the state have volunteered to participate in the program. SeattlePI.com/The Associated Press (8/19)

New strategy aims to attract, retain specialists
Enloe Medical Center is proposing a new strategy for attracting and retaining physicians. Under the proposal, the facility would create a hospital-affiliated foundation that would house at least 50 specialists who would be paid salaries. This would replace the system of contracting specialists to work on call. Chico Enterprise-Record (Calif.) (8/16)

More hospitals are reaching smoke-free status, study finds
More U.S. hospitals are going smoke-free, a Joint Commission's Health Services Research Department study of more than 1,900 hospitals found. Almost 40% of facilities are completely smoke-free, with no outdoor designated smoking areas, and 15% are working on implementing similar policies. Modern Healthcare (free registration) (8/20)

Hospital's "Humor Cart" delivers toys and laughs to pediatric patients
Lutheran General Children's Hospital has been home of the Humor Cart for 14 years. Volunteers wheel the decorated cart through the halls and to children's rooms, bringing donated toys and treats such as clown noses, stickers and pinwheels, and telling jokes to make the patients laugh. Chicago Sun-Times/Park Ridge Herald-Advocate (8/10)

Breakthrough adult autism program comes to Mass. General
One of the nation's first specialized, comprehensive programs for adult autism patients is coming to Massachusetts General Hospital. "This is tremendously exciting, and I hope others will follow," an executive with advocacy group Autism Speaks said of Massachusetts General's plan. The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model) (8/23)

Payers

Payers target obesity-related costs
UnitedHealth Group, Cigna, WellPoint and a number of other payers have stepped up efforts and introduced programs to battle the costs of obesity. "The resources needed to treat diseases associated with carrying excess weight increase health care costs for all," said a spokesman for Excellus BlueCross BlueShield. Atlantic Information Services/Health Plan Week (8/21)

Swine flu vaccines covered for all UnitedHealth Group members
UnitedHealth Group has pledged to cover swine flu vaccine administration for all of its plan members, regardless of whether their benefits already cover vaccines or whether they plan to add this coverage to their policies. Yahoo!/The Associated Press (8/21)

Insurance industry strategy shifts from employers to individual consumers
Forward-thinking health care insurers have turned their focus to marketing directly to consumers instead of employers and are thinking of their services more as personalized commodities for individual consumers. "Consumer expectations have changed immensely in retail, let alone retail insurance," said the retail marketing director for one payer. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (8/23)

WellPoint taps health and wellness resource to boost prevention
WellPoint is teaming up with RedBrick Health to pilot a program in which WellPoint will tap RedBrick's health and wellness services. "We believe a stronger focus on prevention ... can make a difference in helping people adopt healthier lifestyles and use their health care dollars more wisely," said a WellPoint executive. Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal (8/19)

BCBSA largely happy with health care reform legislative proposals
The Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, representing 39 insurance companies, wants health care reform to "expand coverage to everyone and rein in costs while improving quality," an association executive said. "We agree with the vast majority of what's in the bills that we've seen," she added. National Journal (8/18)

Pharma

Web site from Pfizer will connect patients, drugmakers for clinical trials
Pfizer, along with an IT company, plans to create a new Web site for patients, doctors, researchers and drugmakers to connect on the subject of clinical trials. Pfizer said almost 85% of potential patient participants don't know that clinical trials are a possible treatment option. Forbes/The Associated Press (8/19)

New technique using stem cells helps researchers test drug candidates for neurological disease
Scientists are able to test drug candidates for mirroring disease, a neurological disorder, with the help of patients' own stem cells. The director of the Center for Regenerative Medicine at the Scripps Research Institute called the project "a blueprint for the future of using stem cells to study and treat neurological disease." MIT Technology Review (8/2009)

Patients' online medical information can help drug researchers
Patients are increasingly reaching out to the Internet with their health questions and often are willing to post their own medical information online in their quest for answers. This new data resource can be useful for researchers, particularly those working on rare illnesses. NYTimes.com (8/24)

Officials call for quicker availability of H1N1 drugs and vaccines
Drug companies should receive assistance from federal agencies such as the Department of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration in making supplies of H1N1 drugs and vaccines available more quickly, according to the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. Reuters (8/24)

Schering-Plough funds study on hepatitis C treatment
Schering-Plough, maker of hepatitis C treatment PegIntron, funded a study that found why American hepatitis C patients of European decent are more prone than African-Americans to respond better to treatment, and the answer lies in a genetic variant. Bloomberg (8/16)

Physicians

Study of physician practices shows promise of health IT
Patients with chronic diseases receive better health care when their doctors use health information technology, a study of 10 physician practices has found. "By participating in this project, we're able to develop more effective ways of consistently bringing quality and value to all our patients," said a spokesman for one of the participating practices. Healthcare IT News (8/21)

Peers benefit from teaching each other at medical school
Students at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine take some classes from their more experienced peers instead of professors. Everyone benefits from the system, said the associate dean for curricular affairs. "We never learn it as well until we teach it," she added. The Plain Dealer (Cleveland) (8/18)

Business skills are important for new physicians
Some New England medical residents are learning more than just how to diagnose and treat -- they are also learning the business end of what they do, such as insurance reimbursement. "When you start seeing patients, you also start dealing with the business aspects. You realize how big a part of your practice the business is," said a Tufts Medical Center senior resident. The Boston Globe (tiered subscription model) (8/23)

Physician Re-Entry Program helps doctors return to practice after retirement
A new program at Oregon Health & Science University helps physicians who have stopped practicing or retired get the re-entry training they need to qualify to treat patients again. The program gives doctors information about updates in medicine and opportunities to network. The Oregonian (Portland) (8/12)

Doctor comments on the dilemma of patients requesting Facebook friendships
Doctors might be leery when their patients ask to be friends on Facebook, but the networking site can offer advantages. One physician, writing about the situation in the New England Journal of Medicine, advised his peers to carefully manage their online identities. Chicago Tribune (8/18)

Public Sector

Online tracking system will help HHS find hospital beds for flu patients
The Department of Health and Human Services plans to use an online tracking system to keep a count of available hospital beds that could be used by H1N1 patients during the flu season, expected to start in the fall. Government Health IT magazine (8/2009)

Medicare pilot project yields improved care at hospitals
A Medicare pilot project that gave hospitals cash incentives for high-quality care and penalized poorly performing facilities yielded fewer infections and deaths. "Financial incentives can increase quality of care," stated a CMS official. The Wall Street Journal (8/17)

Grants will fund development of national patient registries
Starting next spring, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will provide $48 million in grants for projects to develop national patient registries. The registries will be used to research treatments' long-term effects and collect information on underrepresented groups. Government Health IT magazine (8/2009)

Federal funding goes to boost nation's supply of nurses
More than $13 million in federal funds provided by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act will be used for nurses' loan repayments and loans for student nurses who intend to become faculty after they graduate. HHS hopes the money will help the country meet its nursing needs. Healthcare Finance News (8/13)

Public hospital sees success from increased accountability
One public hospital in Texas seems to be pulling off the impossible and its CEO attributes the facility's success to "the private-practice business model." He holds people accountable, recruited new staff and switched the culture from defeat to excitement. A visiting doctor who used to work at the hospital concluded that accountability and discipline can be more important than increased funding to turn a public hospital around. The Wall Street Journal (8/7)

Workers' Compensation & Auto Liability

Five-year high in auto insurance customer satisfaction
This year, auto insurance companies can boast the highest customer satisfaction ratings in five years, due largely to lower premiums, according to the 2009 National Auto Insurance Study by J.D. Power and Associates. PropertyCasualty360.com (8/18)

Predictive modeling is vital for workers' comp industry, experts say
The future of the workers' compensation insurance industry lies in predictive modeling, experts said at a recent conference. Companies that ignore predictive modeling will be left behind, a Deloitte Consulting senior manager added. PropertyCasualty360.com (8/18)

Report describes profitability and other benefits of paperless billing
A recent report finds that insurance customers are more satisfied and more profitable to the insurer when they receive electronic bills or use automatic, recurring payments. "Customers who rely on electronic billing and payment services are not only more loyal, they also tend to use more products," said an expert. Insurance Networking News (8/17)

Expert says projecting expenses is key to keeping workers' comp claim costs down
Workers' compensation insurers that can more accurately project the expenses of a catastrophic claim are better able to decrease total claim costs because they can control some of the factors that drive cost escalation. PropertyCasualty360.com (8/17)

Software program can cut drivers' crash risk, company says
DriveSharp, a new software program endorsed by the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety, can "train the brain to think and react faster on the road." The company that sells it claims it can reduce drivers' risk of crashing by bolstering visual processing. The Wall Street Journal (8/13)

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