Monday, March 28, 2016

10 Behaviors of An Engaged Healthcare Consumer Infographic

Just in time for my presentation at the HRE Conference in Las Vegas, I'm introducing my first infographic -- Ten Behaviors of An Engaged Healthcare Consumer. Practicing these ten behaviors will assure you receive the best and safest medical care. 

Unfortunately, few people have the knowledge necessary to successfully navigate the healthcare system and get themselves and their loved ones quality care when they need it. In most organizations, healthcare is the second-largest expense — second only to salaries — yet most employers don’t teach people how to get the most out of their investment. Employers implement consumer-driven health plans to encourage employees to behave as consumers, but until now no one had defined the behaviors an engaged healthcare consumer demonstrates, so employees don’t understand what they’re being asked to do. I've been on a journey to educate people to be more healthcare savvy and I hope to inspire other employers to do the same. 

You can view my presentation on Haiku Deck. I'm still putting the finishing touches on the slide notes, but they'll done before my presentation on Wednesday. I've included links to some useful studies and resources. 

Many thanks to Samantha Allen for developing this infographic with me. And, many thanks to all those who contributed to defining the behaviors. I'm eternally grateful. 

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

A Clear View of Our Own Data


The first time I loaded the Moves app onto my iPhone and looked at it, it creeped me out. I promptly deleted it from my phone. Then, I realized the app was just allowing me to see data that already existed and could be accessible to others. I thought, "Why shouldn't I have a clear view of my own data?" I downloaded Moves again. Maybe it's more cool than creepy. 

This seems to be a trend as our society moves toward greater data transparency. Now I can log onto my electronic medical record at my doctor's website and see her notes about my visit. I can log onto UMR and see information about all my health claims. I can create an account on Magellan RX and see every prescription I've filled. My credit union account shows every banking transaction I've made. And, the Fairfax County Government site shows all my tax payments right down to the $10 licenses for our dogs.

This week we rolled out a new human resources information system that integrates payroll. Staff can now see their salary, social security numbers, date of birth etc... ASHA has always had this information that's required to employ us, but now we can see it too. I think this fits with our organizational value of being transparent and I like that each staff has a clear view of their own data. Some folks were concerned about security, but once our IT Director assured us that our information is appropriately protected calmer heads prevailed. 

Our staff will have the same experience when they log into Health Advocate for the first time and see their personal health dashboard. It includes key information about benefits use and specific health indicators. Will they find it cool or creepy?



Related Reading:



Thursday, March 10, 2016

The Dark Art of Prescription Drug Pricing

Have you wondered how prescription drug prices are set? I attended a pharmacy seminar with Mike Zucarelli, a pharmacist and the National Pharmacy Practice Leader for CBIZ, to learn more this morning. Mike shared the chart in this image that illustrates how the money flows between drug manufactures, pharmacy benefit management companies, employers as plan sponsors and us as consumers or beneficiaries. No wonder I'm confused!

The incentives are crazy and unknown to most of us. Drug manufactures pushing off-label drug use -- doctor's prescribing medications for uses that have not been approved or proven to work. Insurance companies providing incentives for doctors to prescribe certain classes of drugs. Pharmacy benefit management companies negotiating rebates (aka kick backs) from drug manufactures not just based of the volume they purchase, but to take a competitors drug off the formulary.