In this last of four blogs reporting from WTN’s Disruptive Healthcare Conference 2014, I focus on a realization I came to during the conference: Big Data and the Internet of Things have finally come-of-age in healthcare. Examples of how data, analytics and mobile platforms connected to cloud-based data centers are transforming healthcare were woven into many presentations. Here are some examples: Aurora Health Care, which spends $780 million on its supply chain annually, is using data comparing different surgeons’ supply usage to identify savings that do not hurt quality of care. It is also identifying frequent users of ERs who could be served less expensively in a primary care location. Specialists and primary care physicians are able to collaborate virtually or via e-referrals that, according to PDS CEO Jonathan Ravdin, are reducing the need for visits to specialists or wait times for appointments….
Will these three disruptive healthcare changes be enough?
In this third of a series of four blogs about WTN’s 2014 Disruptive Healthcare Conference (DHC), I’ll focus on three disruptive innovation waves reshaping healthcare. These innovations could lead to better care for less cost. But will they happen fast enough to allow us to channel wasteful healthcare spending into efforts that would make our economy more competitive globally? New reimbursement models and incentives Slowly but surely, payers are adopting new approaches for reimbursing providers. One is pay-for-performance (e.g., Medicare won’t reimburse hospitals for avoidable re-admissions). Another is making providers financially accountable for a population’s healthcare (e.g., Accountable Care Models, introduced in Obama’s far reaching reform). These new models create financial incentives to keep people healthy, surface health issues earlier, move care to less-expensive settings, and avoid unnecessary tests and procedures. In addition, Obama reforms preclude insurers from kicking out the chronically ill,…