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The pharmaceutical landscape for 2012 and beyond: balancing cost with care, and incentives for health behaviors

By on May 18, 2012 in Accountable Care Organizations, Affordable Care Act, Behavior change, Corporate wellness, Electronic health records, Employers, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health engagement, Health insurance, Health insurance exchanges, Health reform, Health social networks, medical home, Medication adherence, mHealth, Mobile health, Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Personal health records, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy, Physicians, PPACA, Prescription drugs, Prevention and wellness, Workplace wellness

Transparency, data-based pharmacy decisions, incentivizing patient behavior, and outcomes-based payments will reshape the environment for marketing pharmaceutical drugs in and beyond 2012. Two reports published this week, from Express Scripts-Medco and PwC, explain these forces, which will severely challenge Pharma’s mood of market ennui. Express-Scripts Medco’s report on 9 Leading Trends in Rx Plan Management [...]

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A health plan or a car: health insurance for a family of four exceeds $20K in 2012

By on May 15, 2012 in Affordable Care Act, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health insurance, Health insurance exchanges, Health marketing, Health Plans, Health politics, Health reform, Hospital finance, Hospitals, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy, Physicians, PPACA

The saying goes, “you pays your money and you makes your choice.” In 2012, if you have a bolus of $20,700 to spend, you can choose between a health plan for a family of four, or a sedan for the same family. That’s the calculation from the actuaries at Milliman, whose annual Milliman Medical Index [...]

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Improving health care through Big Data: a meeting of the minds at SAS

By on May 11, 2012 in Bio/life sciences, Chronic care, Connected health, Electronic health records, Health at home, Health care information technology, Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health insurance, Health Plans, Health politics, Health Quality, Health reform, Hospitals, Medicaid, medical home, Medical innovation, Medical technology, Personalized medicine, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy, Physicians, Primary care, Privacy and security, Public health, Retail health, Safety net and health, Telehealth, Telemedicine, Trust

Some 500 data analytics gurus representing the health care ecosystem including hospitals, physician practices, life science companies, academia and consulting came together on the lush campus of SAS in Cary, North Carolina, this week to discuss how Big Data could solve health care’s Triple Aim, as coined by keynote speaker Dr. Donald Berwick: improve the [...]

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Patients want to collaborate with physicians, but are reluctant to do so

By on May 9, 2012 in Behavior change, Health Consumers, Health engagement, Health literacy, Health social networks, Hospitals, Internet and Health, Personalized medicine, Physicians, Primary care, Public health, Seniors and health, Trust

“Knowing they may need to return at some later time, patients felt they were vulnerable and dependent on the good will of their physicians. Thus, deference to authority instead of genuine partnership appeared to be the participants’ mode of working,” asserts a study into physician-patient relationships published this week in Health Affairs. The study’s title [...]

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It’s the prices and the technology, stupid: why U.S. health costs are higher than anywhere in the world

By on May 7, 2012 in Health Consumers, Health Economics, Health politics, Health Quality, Health reform, Health social networks, Heart health, Hospital finance, Hospitals, medical home, Medical technology, Pharmaceutical, Pharmacy, Physicians, Prevention and wellness, Primary care, Safety net and health

The price of physician services, proliferation of clinical technology and the cost of obesity are the key drivers of higher health spending in the U.S., according to The Commonwealth Fund‘s latest analysis in their Issues of International Health Policy titled, Explaining High Health Care Spending in the United States: An International Comparison of Supply, Utilization, [...]

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