Conflict between the sector’s “haves” and “have-nots” has been brewing for years and is coming to an inflection point. Health care in the U.S. has been very good to those who participate on the business end of the enterprise, but the comfort they enjoy is often at the expense of others. Those frictions are likely Read More
Conflict between the sector’s “haves” and “have-nots” has been brewing for years and is coming to an inflection point. // By Ron Shinkman // Health care in the U.S. has been very good to those who participate on the business end of the enterprise, but the comfort they enjoy is often at the expense of Read More
Which is better — Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) or Medicare Advantage (MA)? Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, president and CEO of SCAN Group & Health Plan, doesn’t think it’s the right question. “We all know we have a broken health care system, and we have to try in our own ways to make it better,” he says. Read More
Top execs at Walmart and SCAN Group & Health Plan share their candid perspectives on the state of health care in the U.S. and how their organizations can help fill the gaps. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Which is better — Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) or Medicare Advantage (MA)? Sachin Jain, MD, MBA, president and Read More
If niche marketing is defined as the business of promoting and selling a product or service to a specialized segment of a market, then Geisinger has powered its expertise for a specific population and area that is expected to grow going forward. Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) is rapidly becoming a distribution and shipping hub for e-commerce Read More
The over-65 population in northeast Pennsylvania is expected to double in the next decade. Geisinger is ready. // By John Marzano // Northeast Pennsylvania (NEPA) is rapidly becoming a distribution and shipping hub for e-commerce to reach roughly 60 percent of the U.S. within a day’s drive. Think Amazon Prime for a 1-to-2 day delivery Read More
Death and dying is a reality we are all going to face. So it is remarkable that end-of-life care isn’t as freely spoken about between providers and patients as it should be. This highlights an often overlooked communication challenge in the health care industry: How do you integrate end-of-life care into the patient experience in Read More
Imagine a world where everyone has advance care planning documents — and they’re accessible on the cloud. Why not start with your own community? // By L. Scott Brown // Health care gets a lot of things right, and a hospital is an amazing place filled with good-hearted heroes doing heroic things every day. But Read More
// By Jim Pittman // The new Ochsner Health Plan will play an important role in helping improve the health of the Bayou State’s over-65 population. In October 2021, Ochsner Health, the largest health system in Louisiana, officially launched the new Ochsner Health Plan (OHP) with Medicare Advantage (MA) just in time for Medicare’s 2022 Read More
“The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers,” says Lindsay R. Resnick of Wunderman Thompson Health. Here’s an excerpt from his new article: Health care transformation was all Read More
// By Lindsay R. Resnick // The ability to attract, activate, and guide consumers through health care’s labyrinth depends not only on reimagining the business of health care but building relationships of value and trust that result in inspired, confident customers. Health care transformation was all the buzz throughout 2021. To be transformed means to Read More
// By Sheryl S. Jackson // There’s no substitute for market research when launching a new product and designing a campaign to support it. Advocate Aurora Health relied heavily on consumer research to support the launch of its Medicare Advantage plan. The success of Advocate Aurora Health’s launch of a Medicare Advantage product can be Read More
Things are changing when the CEO of a major health system comprising 14 hospitals — soon to be 18 — tosses around phrases like “health care at any address” and says things like, “We want to be the partner for those people who want to thrive without health care getting in the way.” The definition Read More
View from the C-Suite: Stephen K. Klasko, MD, MBA, President, Thomas Jefferson University and CEO, Jefferson Health // By Jane Weber Brubaker // There are two words Steve Klasko uses a lot: “What if…?” Like other visionary health system leaders, he’s scaling up to meet the reality of health care today, while at the same Read More
An industry leader recently used a phrase we hadn’t heard before: “The NEXT Normal.” What has the pandemic taught us? How did it stretch us as an industry, and how can we use what we’ve learned to shape strategies in the future? We asked our editorial advisory board members to weigh in on one question: Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // An industry leader recently used a phrase we hadn’t heard before: “The NEXT Normal.” What has the pandemic taught us? How did it stretch us as an industry, and how can we use what we’ve learned to shape strategies in the future? In this article, our editorial advisory board Read More
See those retailers in your rearview mirror? They are the health care disruptors you’ve been hearing about — Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, Google — and they are coming for you. They are closer than they appear, and they will steal your customers — if you don’t disrupt back. “The retailers have already nailed positive customer Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // See those retailers in your rearview mirror? They are the health care disruptors you’ve been hearing about — Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, Amazon, Google — and they are coming for you. They are closer than they appear, and they will steal your customers — if you don’t disrupt back. “The Read More
“Not that many years ago, you would commonly find ‘senior services’ programs in almost every hospital across the country,” says Daniel Fell, a senior strategist at Optum. “But somewhere along the way, despite the demographic trends confronting the health care industry that clearly point to a seismic shift among the health care population — mainly Read More
// By Daniel Fell // How should hospitals and health care delivery systems think about serving the growing “senior” population? How can health systems better leverage data and technology to meet the needs of consumers and caregivers who will be using health care services at the highest rate over the next several decades? Not that Read More
Hospital and physician-owned Medicare Advantage (MA) plans have seen double-digit growth since 2015. Axios, which tracks membership data from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), reports that the largest organization in this category, Kaiser Permanente, grew 23 percent from 2015 to 2018, to almost 1.6 million members. The other 40 or so hospital- and Read More
// By Wendy Stark Healy // Medicare Advantage Plans have become a popular choice among Medicare recipients, and health systems are staking their claim to the market. Some health systems have had insurance arms for years, and others are just launching their plans. Done correctly, hospital-sponsored Medicare Advantage plans offer an attractive opportunity for health Read More
“Telemedicine is more than a nascent trend — it’s here to stay,” according to Kathy Selker, president and CEO of Northlich, an independent, full-service marketing and advertising agency. Selker’s new article explores how technology, such as wearables, can help patients with chronic conditions better monitor their health — and how marketers can connect with and Read More
// By Kathy Selker // Telemedicine is more than a nascent trend — it’s here to stay. This article explores how new technology, such as wearables, can help patients with chronic conditions better monitor their health — and how marketers can connect with and drive preference among these chronic care patients before a crisis happens. Read More
Senior citizens in North Texas have more opportunities than ever before to stay busy and interact with their peers — from practicing tai chi in the park, to watching cooking demonstrations, to attending informational sessions about using generic drugs, and lots more. All of these and a host of other events are orchestrated by Care Read More