Healthcare Business Today

Your leading source for best practices across the healthcare spectrum

Telemedicine Drives New Levels of Patient Care—and is Good for Business

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By Hai Tran

As recently as 10 years ago, telemedicine was generally thought of as the ability for remote clinicians to conduct phone consults, meaning a phone interaction with patients or with another physician on a remote basis. That is no longer the case. Advancements in telecommunications coupled with 1) the growth of video technology, 2) the general acceptance of consumer-type applications such as Skype or FaceTime, and 3) the normalization of video-to-video communications, have transformed the very definition of telemedicine. Today, most people expect telemedicine to be more of a video-to-video exchange.

This new paradigm in adoption can be seen across the healthcare continuum, including the acute setting where response time is critical and patient care is more complex. A few short years ago, the notion that telemedicine could be deployed effectively in a clinically complex case such as a critically ill stroke patient was a fairly foreign concept. 

The industry remained skeptical regarding this type of use of telemedicine until recently. Today, data exists that demonstrates why a comprehensive telemedicine program can be good for business: significantly reducing a hospital’s response time in a consistent and sustainable manner; improving coverage and volume; reducing operational costs; and generating actionable data for further improvement. [Read more…]

How to Engage Your OB-GYN Patients

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By Purusha Rivera

We all know that supportive, attentive and effective prenatal care is essential for a healthy pregnancy. From the conception to delivery, these routine checkups make sure the baby’s development and the mother’s wellbeing are both on track. Prenatal appointments offer the patient a secure space for asking questions, learning about the changes in her body and preparing to undergo labor. As the OB-GYN, your role is to give her confidence and empowerment during each stage of pregnancy. This isn’t news to most OB-GYNs, but it is always good to get back to the basics and think about how we can improve. Here is a refresher with five ways to better engage with your patients in your own practice. 

Create an Environment That is Inviting

When a mother-to-be enters the waiting room of your office, make her feel comfortable, nurtured and safe in the environment. Welcome her inside with cozy décor, soothing music and approachable staff. The more a patient can relax in the space you’ve designed, the more inclined she is to entrust herself and her future child in your care. So be intentional about the kind of atmosphere you’re creating within the practice. An OB-GYN appointment should ease both anxiety and stress from the time a patient walks through the door until she exits after the checkup. [Read more…]

Expanding Mindfully into DTC Telehealth

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What to consider before jumping into direct-to-consumer telehealth

By Mike Baird, MBA

The interest in direct-to-consumer (DTC) telehealth is soaring as healthcare organizations seek new ways to improve patient access to medical care.

As noted by a widely publicized Health Affairs report, the healthcare industry performed 1.25 million direct-to-consumer telehealth visits in 2015. That number is projected to rise as stakeholders uncover new uses for virtual care. For example, DTC telehealth can help partners in an Accountable Care Organization (ACO) or patient-centered medical home collaborate better and coordinate care more smoothly. It can help physician practices offer a broader range of services to patients. And it can provide real value to patients.

However, DTC telehealth must be implemented mindfully, with careful consideration of everything from the remote providers servicing patients to the strength of a vendor’s virtual care platform. If a DTC telehealth program is implemented carelessly — with no objectives other than to give patients more “face time” with actual doctors — healthcare providers run the risk of losing out on telehealth’s most important benefits.



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The Globalization Of HealthCare And Why You Should Travel For Treatment

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The act of traveling for healthcare is hardly something new in the medical industry, but the volume at which patients are going abroad for their treatments today is consistently growing. In fact, in the past 10 years, searches on Google alone for ‘medical tourism’ have gone from barely 300,000, to a whopping 8,920,000 in April 2018. This growth is still going as more and more people come to see the benefits of medical tourism. We’ve decided to explore just why people are taking to medical tourism and what the benefits really are.

Why Have We Started Looking Global For Our Healthcare?

From unique holistic treatments in Asia to a Longevita hair transplant Turkey treatment, there is plenty to be sought after abroad. However, there is much more to the industry than that. While the thought of going abroad for treatment can often drum up images of unsanitary clinics and botched surgeries, the reality today is actually much different. In fact, countries across the world are opening their doors to brand new facilities and standards of treatment that rival even that in the UK or USA.

The question is, however, if we have such good healthcare facilities at home, why travel abroad? The simple answer can lie in the benefits that medical tourism brings up. From cost savings of potentially hundreds of pounds on some treatments to shorter waiting lists and the opportunity to enjoy a break abroad before and after your treatment, everyone has their own reasons for embarking on a medical tourism trip. We’re exploring some of the reasons here. [Read more…]

Healthcare on the Blockchain: Big Changes Ahead

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By Cara Sloman, executive vice president, Nadel Phelan, Inc.

One of the biggest challenges in the healthcare system pertains to the access and protection of sensitive medical information. Though blockchain technology was initially developed to support financial transactions, its decentralized, distributed ledger also holds great promise for the healthcare industry. For instance, a recent report by Deloitte notes that blockchain has significant potential to improve data interoperability, privacy and security.

Blockchain technology is poised to help the healthcare industry overcome multiple industry pain points, including the need for health information exchanges, varying data standards and inconsistent rules and permissions. The application of blockchain in healthcare is still in the early stages of development but is envisioned to solve the following challenges.

1. Medical Data Management:

Blockchain can be applied in healthcare to enhance the management of electronic health records (EHRs) because it would simplify the exchange of data across authorized parties. Current health information exchanges (HIEs) are hampered by a number of technology issues, including the need for an intermediary trust network, data interoperability issues and inconsistent rules and permissions. These issues prevent the safe transfer and sharing of data. However, it is now possible for healthcare organizations to build blockchains based on data pulled from existing databases, creating a complete data picture and single source of truth.

So then, HIEs would radically change from their current form to one that is patient-mediated. Patients would be the owners of their own data, accessible to each individual via the blockchain’s private key mechanisms. Patients could share this data with whomever they choose within their healthcare team. This would give patients and the caregivers of their choice a longitudinal history of their health. [Read more…]

What Bio-Tech Brands Need To Do After Mergers

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By Mark McGregor

One of the largest industries in the world currently experiencing consolidation through mergers is that of the biotech and pharmaceutical industry.  Industry news on mergers is released on an ongoing basis, with biotech taking the lead as one of the most popular among acquisitions.  2018 could be what is named as an “explosive year for biotech mergers” according to Investor’s Business Daily.  Biotech companies are often times buying up several brands at once, making for mergers that include multiple entities as opposed to a single-company acquisition. 

With companies experiencing rapid growth within the pharmaceutical industry, it can be assumed that operational hiccups and complications may arise.  However, with the rise in importance for Business Process Management (BPM), many brands undergoing mergers can more efficiently and effectively streamline two operations into one while ensuring proper documentation for compliance remains in order.

Consolidation strategies are used quite frequently in the biotechnology sector, and can be necessary to compete more effectively against new entrants in the marketplace.  The development of biotechnology has not only resulted in the advancement and treatment of disease, but has increased the competition between pharmaceutical labs and researchers. With an increase in competition, there is also an associated risk that merging pharmaceutical brands may not be adequately prepared for growth and thus results in monetary losses for biotechnology investors.  With any merger, it’s important for companies to consider how to make the transition while still maintaining production and meeting deadlines. Standardization will help to eliminate any “waste” and thus increase profits without damaging the underlying organizations.



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Letters 226J: IRS Enforces Employer Mandate

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Summary Of Employer Shared Responsibility Payments (“ESRPs”)

By Melissa Shimizu

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), applicable large employers (ALEs) are required to offer full-time employees minimum essential health care coverage that is affordable and provides minimum value. If they do not, and a full-time employee receives a premium tax credit to purchase individual coverage through a marketplace, the employer may be assessed an employer shared responsibility payment (ESRP).  The amount of the penalty depends on the number of full-time employees to which the ALE made an offer of coverage.

If an ALE makes an offer of coverage to fewer than 95 percent of its full-time employees, and one or more full-time employees receive a premium tax credit, the ESRP in 2015 is generally equal to the number of full-time employees minus 80 (because there was transitional relief available in 2015), multiplied by $2,260.  This is called the subsection (a) penalty because it comes from Section 4980H(a).  For plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2016, the aforementioned transitional relief was not available and the ESRP calculation will only be reduced by 30 employees, rather than 80.

If, however, it makes an offer of coverage to at least 95 percent of its full-time employees, and one or more of its full-time employees receives a premium tax credit, the ESRP is calculated for each month. This is called the subsection (b) penalty because it comes from Section 4980H(b).  For 2015, the amount of the ESRP for any given month is equivalent to the number of full-time employees who received a premium tax credit for that month multiplied by one-twelfth of $2,080.



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