Consumer Directed Healthcare

It seems like when whenever one of my family members is sick the first thing we do is look on the web now to see what might be the cause of an illness.
We go to the web searching for answers looking for the latest treatment and hope for the best.  But I often wonder when I have gone to various sites – are these sites really representing the medical industry correctly?
It seems like the latest craze is the new health platform.  It not only gives you tools to track your blood pressure and finding the latest and greatest treatment, but it also allows you to create your own blog and join an ever growing online community.  This may be good, but is it creating a new form of quackery medicine.
We all click on the disclaimers without even batting an eye, but are we sure what we are getting ourselves into.  For example I was looking at a forum topic on a national platform, and I noticed a topic issued about being allergic to nickel.  I found it quite interesting. 
Don’t get me wrong I definitely see the good in having a base of resources, but as long as I am reminded that they are only resources and not a cure.
We have seen examples in the past of abuse of forums and blogs; we have all read or heard about them in the news.
Are we going to start to see fake doctors prey on an innocent victim?  What kind of precautionary measures are in place to prevent this type of attack?

For the past year or so I’ve talked to everyone I know about HSA’s.   I’d like to share some of my results.  First off…none of the people I spoke with are Rich.  None of these people are…  broke, but none of them are well off enough that they don’t have to work nine to five for a living.
 
My mom works at a bank.  Her bank does not offer an HSA for her Health Care coverage.  I thought banks were leading the way.  My father and brother, both work in the construction industry, again, no option for an HSA within their company.    Friday night social gatherings, I continually ask groups of friends about their healthcare, most were on PPO’s and a couple were on the HMO plan. (all were very proud to say they even had coverage)    My Girlfriend, had her yearly HR meeting at work, and asked their HR representative (that was there with Humana’s agent signing people up) about signing up for an HSA, and the Humana Agent told her that plans like that required much more work on the individuals part to keep track of and were not valid options for larger companies, therefore they were not offering an HSA coverage option. 
 
Not a single person I know of has had the Ability to signup for an HSA and a couple didn’t even know what an HSA is or what it would do for them.  If HSA’s are the future of healthcare then why aren’t these normal employees even being offered the chance at this type of coverage? 
 
Ya, ya, I know that the Bush administration and Congress are talking about this, but again…  how are people supposed to get signed up for these?   And…  if you change your job…  Stay signed up for an HSA plan?

For the past year or so I’ve talked to everyone I know about HSA’s.   I’d like to share some of my results.  First off…none of the people I spoke with are Rich.  None of these people are…  broke, but none of them are well off enough that they don’t have to work nine to five for a living.
 
My mom works at a bank.  Her bank does not offer an HSA for her Health Care coverage.  I thought banks were leading the way.  My father and brother, both work in the construction industry, again, no option for an HSA within their company.    Friday night social gatherings, I continually ask groups of friends about their healthcare, most were on PPO’s and a couple were on the HMO plan. (all were very proud to say they even had coverage)    My Girlfriend, had her yearly HR meeting at work, and asked their HR representative (that was there with Humana’s agent signing people up) about signing up for an HSA, and the Humana Agent told her that plans like that required much more work on the individuals part to keep track of and were not valid options for larger companies, therefore they were not offering an HSA coverage option. 
 
Not a single person I know of has had the Ability to signup for an HSA and a couple didn’t even know what an HSA is or what it would do for them.  If HSA’s are the future of healthcare then why aren’t these normal employees even being offered the chance at this type of coverage? 
 
Ya, ya, I know that the Bush administration and Congress are talking about this, but again…  how are people supposed to get signed up for these?   And…  if you change your job…  Stay signed up for an HSA plan?

I am a young, healthy individual with dependents who is currently enrolled in a PPO plan. Each month my employer and myself pay into my health plan. My family rarely uses medical care other than the normal preventative visits. An HSA with a high deductible health plan seems to be a better option for me. The HSA is tax free going in, accumulates tax free, and the money can be used tax free as long as it is spent on qualified medical expenses. If I stay informed about the real cost of health care and can find the best care at the lowest prices, with my preventative care being covered by my HDHP anyways, this sounds like a great way to save money for retirement in addition to my 401K. Are there any reason why an HSA would not be an excellent choice for myself and my family?

Health Savings Accounts are positioned for aggressive growth over the next three years, according to a new report form Mintel. (www.Mintel.com) The report predicts the number of HSA enrollees will increase to 30 million by the end of 2009. This firms research has found that the key feature of HSAs that is particular attractive to consumers is the opportunity for pre-tax savings.The firms research revealed that only one third of respondents would not be interested in a HSA, indicating substantial potential for increasing enrollment through consumer education.

According to Mintel close to one in four respondents some 25% of their respondents know little about HSAs or have not made up their mind about HSAs. The majority of consumers who say they “do not know” fall in the 18-34 age range.

It seems that consumers are still uneducated about HSAs and their benefits. The question becomes how to get information out to consumers on an ongoing basis? Mintel talks about direct-to-consumer marketing efforts although increasing has tremendous room for growth.

According to Mitntel, less than 8.1 million HSA direct mail pieces were sent directly to consumers last year. This however was an 89 percent jump in HSA mail volume compared to first quarter 2007 and to first quarter 2006.

Education seems to be the key. How to get the HSA message through all of the Healthcare messages will be the ongoing challenge for the next couple of years.

One of the initiatives of the Medical Banking Project, (www.tennessean.com) a Franklin-based think tank, advocates using back-office systems perfected by banks to slash health-care cost. Later this year, the project plans to launch a computer-based platform called boardTrust that would let banks share information, including medical records, and provide standards to govern that process.

Their rationale is that the banks have already spend heavily on technology and process to secure that technology including their websites and data. We are becoming a society that utilizing the web for more and more services, especially financial services. The requirement for these services is stringent. If our money is safe on these sites and we trust them, why wouldn’t we trust our health records on these sites?

Imagine, going to your bank’s web site and being able to pick a doctor, schedule an office visit, check lab results or pay a bill from your last appointment. This could available as soon as 2008. Are we ready for this?

Who would benefit from mandated health insurance? This is a major question moving through the health care delivery system. An unusual coalition that includes some of the largest companies: PepsiCo, General Mills, Pacific Gas and Electric. Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. and The Kroger Co. was formed in California to launch a political campaign calling for medical insurance to be expanded to everyone.

The coalition also includes insures and drug firms that probably would benefit from mandated health insurance: Aetna, Blue Shield of California, Cigna Healthcare, Eli Lilly and Co. and PacificCare.

Who would benefit for Mandated Health Insurance, more importantly who would it hurt? Should we require all individuals to obtain health insurance?

Hospitals are continuously trying to reinvent them selves. Hospitals in the Midwest are doing just that. The Solucient list of 100 Top hospitals (www.100tophospitals.com) was release in March. This annual study identifies the nation’s top organization-wide performers, using the two most recent years of data. The 100 top hospitals have higher survival rates and keep more patients complicated-free and attract more patients-all the while maintaining higher profits. It is estimated that if all Medicare inpatients received the same level of care as those in the 100 Top Hospitals:

• More than 100,000 additional patients would survive each year
• More than 114,000 complications would be avoided annually
• Expenses would decline by an aggregate 10.9 billion a year
• The average patient stay would decrease by more than half a day

More than 50 % of the winning hospitals in the 2006 study are from the Midwest, and 30 of the 100 top Hospitals are in two states- Michigan and Ohio. Nearly two-thirds of states in the south (10 of 17) ranked in lowest quintiles. Three of the most populous states-California, New York, and Texas-placed in the two lowest quintiles.

This study is a great read and gives insight to how winning providers treat staff. The better hospitals paid their staffs more, salary and benefits, than other hospitals in the study.