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From volume to value: how health execs see the future of health care

By on January 31, 2012 in Electronic health records, Health care information technology, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health marketing, Health Quality, Health reform, Health social networks, Hospital finance, Hospitals

Transparency and authenticity, constant and clear communication, and a drive toward value underpin the future health system — for those health leaders who can commit to these pillars of transformational change. Leading Through Transformation: Top Healthcare CEOs’ Perspectives on the Future of Healthcare summarizes the interaction among 17 health execs who convened at the second [...]

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See Jane Think: my new jacket says “Let Patients Speak”

By on September 21, 2011 in Design and health, Health Consumers, Health engagement, Health politics, Health Quality, Health reform

Thanks to Regina Holliday, my usual black wardrobe has some color – and tells a very important story: let patients speak. Regina Holliday is an artist, wife, mother, friend, and fierce patient advocate.  She has created The Walking Gallery, now at 80+ story-telling jackets worn by people who have shared their personal stories about health, life, [...]

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Your health system can kill you: the concept of amenable mortality

By on August 30, 2011 in Affordable Care Act, Chronic care, Global Health, Health disparities, Health engagement, Health literacy, Health Quality, Health reform, Hospitals, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, PPACA, Primary care, Public health, Safety net and health

Everyone knows what “mortality” is: a fatal outcome, or in a word, death. Then what is “amenable mortality?” It’s mortality that can be averted by good health care. Poverty, race, hospital readmission rates, and care for chronic disease are factors that can prevent death in America, according to a study by researchers from The Commonwealth Fund, [...]

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Making health care cheaper: innovating for and beyond the safety net

By on August 18, 2011 in Affordable Care Act, Bio/life sciences, Design and health, Electronic health records, Food and health, Global Health, Health care information technology, Health Consumers, Health disparities, Health Economics, Health engagement, Health marketing, Health Quality, Health reform, Medical innovation, Medical technology, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Physicians, PPACA, Prevention and wellness, Primary care, Public health

The big opportunity for investing in health innovation is in cost-reducing technologies, according to the seven essays that make up Innovating More Affordable Health Care, a supplement to the Stanford Social Innovation Review, sponsored by The California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF). The big disconnect in getting innovation adopted in the U.S. health system is the misalignment between risks (what [...]

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The average annual health costs for a U.S. family of four approach $20,000, with employees bearing 40%

By on May 11, 2011 in Affordable Care Act, Employers, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health engagement, Health Plans, Health politics, Health Quality, Health reform, Hospital finance, medical home, Medicare, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Pharmacy, Physicians, PPACA, Uninsured

Health care costs have doubled in less than nine years for the typical American family of four covered by a preferred provider health plan (PPO). In 2011, that health cost is nearly $20,000; in 2002, it was $9,235, as measured by the 2011 Milliman Medical Index (MMI). To put this in context, The 2011 poverty [...]

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