fyi, here’s a copy of my PowerPoint presentation at today’s Healthcare Unbound conference. The Twitter hashtag for the event is #HCU10. No tag for this post.  Read More →

by Jaan Sidorov, MD and Vince Kuraitis The Medicare MAPCP (Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice) demo promised to be Medicare’s Biggest Change in 40 Years … …but the emerging reality isn’t living up to the promise. In this post, we’ll discuss: The Promise An Overview of the MAPCP Demo Our Main Takeaway: Emerging Reality Suggests Medicare Will Be a “Difficult” Partner Conclusion: Think Twice Before Signing Up 1) The Promise... 

(click on the graphic to download the document) Depending on the nature of the payment changes which are made, physicians may need to enhance their capabilities in some or all of the following sixteen areas: 1. Achieving sufficient patient volume to support a new or improved service. 2. Having sufficient upfront capital to design and implement a new or improved service. 3. Having the skills/experience to efficiently/effectively implement a new/improved... 

by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA Pop quiz: Among early-stage companies that are successful, what percentage are successful with the initial business model with which they started (Plan A) vs. a secondary business model (Plan B)? Harvard Business School Professor Clay Christensen studied this issue.  He found that among successful companies, only 7% succeeded with their initial business model, while 93% evolved into a  different…  Read More →

The Emerging Market in Health Care Innovation Tilman Ehrbeck, Nicolaus Henke, and Thomas Kibasi McKinsey Quarterly May 2010 McKinsey conducted research in partnership with the World Economic Forum to study the most promising novel forms of health care delivery and, in particular, to understand how these innovations changed its economics. The Delineation of Home Healthcare: The Natural Evolution of a Healthy Industry Wyatt Matas & Associates... 

by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA . ….or to be more specific, HITECH is synergistic with payment reform that could come from the recently passed national health care reform legislation — the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). We’ll keep this post fairly short and try to avoid many of the more divisive aspects of this topic. The need for healthcare payment reform is well understood on…  Read More →

. by Dave deBronkart ( e-PatientDave ), Vince Kuraitis, and David C. Kibbe So far this series has looked at HITECH participation by hospitals (grumbling but in the game) and physicians (wary, on the sidelines), kudos for ONC’s three major policy points, and how HITECH is already moving the needle on the vendor side. Today we’re going to look at the reason the whole system exists: patients. It’s possible to look at the patients issue from... 

by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA Most of the press coverage and attention to HITECH has been to the “buy” side of the market:  The central question here has been: “Will doctors and hospitals buy and use EHR technology?” Meanwhile — and much more quietly — the sell (vendor) side of the EHR market is already dramatically different than it was a year ago. We observe change occurring at at least three levels: HITECH... 

The latest Health Wonk Review  Read More →

We concluded our last post in this series with a blunt prediction that “key physicians will sit on the sidelines” and that clinician non-adoption of EHR technology is a potential “deal-breaker for the success of HITECH”. While this might sound like a criticism of the way HITECH has been implemented, it’s not intended that way — it’s a commentary on 1) the complexity and scope of change that will be required to make HITECH successful,... 

This article appears in the April 2010 issue of Medical Home News . First, the good news: There are a lot of pilot and demonstration projects potentially involving the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) in newly enacted Federal health care reform legislation – the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Then, the bad news: There are a lot of pilot and demonstration projects potentially involving the PCMH in the PPACA. …so... 

(click on any of the above graphics to be linked to the orginal source) by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA In the previous post in this series on “Is HITECH Working?”, we straightforwardly noted that hospitals are playing in the HITECH game. The issue of whether physicians will play is MUCH thornier. As the headlines above succinctly convey — we conclude that for now there is too much fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD)... 

by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA  The rationale for hospitals having to play in the HITECH game is straightforward: the financial carrots through 2015 are helpful, and the financial sticks after 2015 will be very painful. We’ll discuss: Financial Impacts on Hospitals Survey Data Showing Hospitals Will Play Why Success is Not Guaranteed Financial Impacts on Hospitals Even prior to HITECH, most hospital executives already... 

“Make everything as simple as possible, but not simpler.” Albert Einstein by Vince Kuraitis JD, MBA and David C. Kibbe MD, MBA If you’re like many folks we talk with, you understand the importance of the HITECH Act legislation — yet feel overwhelmed by the complexity and details. This series of blog posts is for you. We address the question “Is HITECH working?” with seven straightforward observations. We’ve worked hard to boil down... 

There’s a new animal in the barnyard — pigs that fly. Rich Elmore of Healthcare Technology News ably summarizes the pundits’ perspectives on health reform in the latest version of the Health Wonk Review . No tag for this post.  Read More →