Almost 48 million adults in the U.S. care for another family member — an estimate the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) closely tracks and now calls “a public health issue” for millions of Americans receiving care, as well as those providing the care. Understanding the Challenge The significance of the caregiving market to Read More
// By Daniel Fell // The case for supporting family caregivers as an integral part of the care team. Here, we look at recent initiatives led by the federal government, share some programs developed by forward-thinking health systems, and propose a framework that health care executives can use to reimagine the role of caregivers.
Acute care telehealth expands access to care by connecting community hospitals with specialized experts, which helps to close gaps in knowledge and keep care local. When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have Read More
Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame game over cost and access must end. Customers are listening, and so are competitors. Recent market moves are making care more widely available than ever before. Read More
Telemedicine technology connects community hospitals with specialized experts, closing gaps in knowledge and keeping care local. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // When patients in a rural community get sick and need access to intensive care or specialized care, the typical small community hospital — if there is one — doesn’t have experts on-site to Read More
Retail providers are expanding, and health insurers are profiting, but timely access to needed care remains elusive for many. // By Lindsay R. Resnick, MHA // Assuring timely access to care — an individual’s ability to obtain health care services — has always challenged payers, providers, and without doubt, consumers. The industry’s constant back-and-forth blame Read More
Most of the guidance on how to prep for video visits is directed to patients. Here, we look at what providers can do to set up older patients for success. // By Jane Weber Brubaker // Technology is great — unless it’s a barrier. We don’t have to look back very far for a good Read More
The pace of change in primary care will continue to accelerate. We should not be scared by this change, but we do need to act. // By Alan Shoebridge // Most of us have heard the saying that things change gradually and then suddenly. Is primary care having that moment now? After years of incremental change, Read More
Every other year, PRC conducts a National Healthcare Consumer Study. The 2022 edition reflects research conducted in 2021, comparing it with previous surveys from 2019, 2017, and 2015. Not surprisingly, there are big differences between 2019 and 2021 — before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. The intervening years changed the way consumers Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // PRC’s biennial National Healthcare Consumer Study sheds light on consumer attitudes impacting health care decisions, expectations about quality of care, and generational differences. Every other year, PRC conducts a National Healthcare Consumer Study. The 2022 edition reflects research conducted in 2021, comparing it with previous surveys from 2019, 2017, Read More
Let’s face it. Health care is a maze, and patients often feel like the rat, trying to get through and hitting one dead end after another. More often than not, health systems don’t prioritize what matters to patients. And even calling patients “patients” instead of “consumers” may serve to maintain the status quo. In the Read More
// By Jane Weber Brubaker // The 2021 book Patient No Longer asks the question, “What makes the top organizations in the country unique?” Let’s face it. Health care is a maze, and patients often feel like the rat, trying to get through and hitting one dead end after another. More often than not, health Read More
“Traditional primary care is being disrupted, right in front of our eyes,” says sales and marketing consultant James A. Gardner. “Blink and I suspect you soon won’t recognize it.” Here’s an excerpt from Gardner’s new article: Look around and new competitors, new thinking, and new delivery models are seemingly everywhere. Venture-backed startups, large employers, government Read More
COVID testing. Vaccines. Health equity. Do they fall under public health or clinical care? In most cases, it’s both, or should be. The gap between hospital-based clinical care and public health is shrinking, as community health initiatives increasingly focus on wellness and prevention. Health systems typically function as separate entities. Nationwide, the drive for revenues and Read More
// By James A. Gardner // Unmet needs and unsolved problems always attract the attention of growth-seeking business leaders. Many see primary care as an exciting opportunity to compete, disrupt — and win. Traditional primary care is being disrupted, right in front of our eyes. Blink and I suspect you soon won’t recognize it. Look Read More
// By Marcia Simon, APR // “Medicine and public health share a common mission … however, important differences have prevented their integration and effective working collaboration,” says the author of a 2020 NIH publication: Covid-19: An Imperative to Bridge the Gap Between Medicine and Public Health. The work of the King County Hospitals for a 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
Telehealth usage has skyrocketed across the country. In the past year of the pandemic, the weekly number of behavioral health visits increased 25 percent on average compared with before COVID-19. This is due to expanded use of audio and video technology. But a study of insured patients published in Health Affairs found that in poorer Read More
“Disrupt or be disrupted.” That’s the advice Shari Campbell offers to anyone in traditional health care who is concerned about losing market share to retail health care stores as Walmart, Amazon, CVS, and others move into the business. Campbell, marketing director, retail health at MultiCare Health System in Tacoma, Washington, says MultiCare Health began to Read More
// By Althea Fung // A safety net hospital in Des Moines, Iowa found a way to connect patients with needed behavioral health services using telehealth kiosks, leveraging community resources to provide broadband connectivity, private spaces, and support staff. Telehealth usage has skyrocketed across the country. In the past year of the pandemic, the weekly Read More
// By Jim Samuel // We’ve all been expecting it, but now that Walmart, CVS, Amazon, Walgreens, and others are upping their games, the question is more important than ever. Can traditional primary care and health systems survive the retail health onslaught, and what do they need to do to maintain market share and thrive? Read More
In Peter Hochstein’s new story, he explains how a radio-focused advertising campaign enabled a regional hospital system to significantly increase its telehealth and urgent-care traffic, with relatively low media and production costs. Here’s an excerpt: Radio tends to be a medium that reaches people while their minds are on something else. There are exceptions, of Read More
View from the C-Suite: Toby Cosgrove, MD, Executive Advisor and Former CEO and President of Cleveland Clinic // By Jane Weber Brubaker // In an interview with StartUp Health co-founders, Dr. Toby Cosgrove shares his perspectives on what we’ve learned from the pandemic, how technology accelerated innovation, and how it will continue to open new Read More
// By Peter Hochstein //A radio-focused advertising campaign enabled this regional hospital system to significantly increase its telehealth and urgent-care traffic, with relatively low media and production costs. But a caveat: Radio works best when the message is simple.What’s radio for? Largely it’s there these days to keep you company while you drive the car Read More