HIMSSCast

Everyone is talking about value-based care, and everyone says it's coming soon. But how soon is soon? And what, specifically, is value-based care? You may be familiar with the concept,  but are you familiar enough that you'd know how to change your workflow if your hospital announced a shift to value-based care tomorrow?To address this information gap, Humana and the University of Houston launched a value-based care education course on Coursera earlier this year. Tray Cockerell, director of strategic relationships at Humana, and Avra Bowers, medical director at Humana, join host Jonah Comstock to discuss the course, how it came about, and why it's needed now.Talking points: How the value-based care course came about Defining value-based care as more than a payment methodValue-based care as team-based, coordinated carePro-active vs reactive care — preventing poor outcomesLimitations of fee for service around social determinants of healthWhat the course does and who it’s forPractical skills around value-based care for providersHow to use the course if your organization hasn’t switched to value-based care yetThe importance of measuring and communicating metricsThe role of technology in the future of value-based careTray and Avra’s parting thoughtsMore about this episode:Humana, University of Houston announce value-based care specialization programValue-based care Specialization on Coursera (the course in question)Humana collaborating with providers to offer value-based care for those with original Medicare2021 will bring more value-based careWe have reached a 'pivotal moment' for value-based careHealth leaders question how, not if, value-based care should be implementedCMS issues roadmap for states to accelerate adoption of value-based care

Feinberg’s departure, and Google’s strategic shift, has raised questions about whether big tech firms are truly equipped to take on the healthcare space.

FHIR, AI, and the cloud are reshaping healthcare, radically altering how organizations engage with patients. Learn how to embrace the changes, and drive more meaningful healthcare outcomes with MongoDB. Patients expect a more personal and digitally enabled healthcare experience. In this podcast, Jeff Needham, Principal, Healthcare Solutions and Robert Oberhofer, Head of Product Solutions at MongoDB discuss how the most successful providers and organizations will be those who embrace new technologies, like the cloud, and leverage data to deliver the best patient experiences and health outcomes.

For a long time, the standard of care in mental and behavioral health has been some combination of pharmaceuticals and talk therapy. But with FDA-cleared, rigorously vetted digital health apps, there's a new piece of the puzzle, and it has the potential to combine the advantages of therapy with the scalability of drugs.In this episode of HIMSSCast, Big Health CEO Peter Hames joins host Jonah Comstock to talk about the future of mental health and lessons learned so far.This episode is brought to you  by Carahsoft.Talking points:What Big Health is all aboutScalable mental health therapiesTreating algorithms and therapies like drugsEfficacy data and safety of digital therapeutics vs drugsHow pharma companies are responding to digital therapeuticsPredicting the future of mental health care Big Health’s partner relationshipsMental health stigma and digital therapeuticsDigital therapeutics have arrivedWhat’s next for Big Health?More about this episode:Sleep, stress app maker Big Health locks in $39M Series B raiseBig Health follows up Sleepio with Daylight, an app for anxietyCVS Health kicks off digital health-friendly service for PBM clients with Big Health’s SleepioSimulation model: Big Health's Sleepio drives greater cost savings than group CBT or drug therapyFrom Big Health:Sleepio randomized controlled trial showing 76% of patients achieved remission from insomnia. Daylight randomized controlled trial showing that 71% of patients achieved remission from clinical anxiety. Economic evaluation of a Fortune 500 employer showing $1,677 lower annualized healthcare costs per employee. JAMA study showing that Sleepio improves broad health outcomes including: functional health, psychological well-being, and sleep-related qualities. 

Healthcare IT is on the cusp of finally realizing the long-discussed, much-hyped, yet ever-elusive promise of true interoperability. Why now? Because of the cloud, and cloud vendors’ embrace of open standards in their APIs. The cloud also offers other potential benefits to healthcare IT – for instance, wider use of AI and robust analytics – but the real game-changer will be widespread system interoperability. In this podcast, PatientKeeper CTO John Kelly discusses how the migration of health IT to the cloud will make the vast trove of patient data that has been digitized over the past decade more broadly accessible and clinically useful.

This week the HIMSS global conference was back in person after the COVID-19 pandemic sidelined last year's event. After a week packed with hundreds of educational sessions, scores of vendor demonstrations and new meet and greets, the HIMSS Media editors sit down for a debrief on cybersecurity,  patient experience, public health, and more.Talking points:The mood and feel at HIMSS21New cyber attacks require innovations in cybersecurityMore attention paid to the voice of the patientPublic health infrastructure gaps exposed by the pandemicMore work still needed on interoperabilityIncorporating health equity and clinical trial diversity into the conversationAI/ML in a low-key but foundational roleStar Trek and the Jetsons -- models for healthcareSome keynote highlightsCOVID lessons, positive and negativeThe telehealth explosion and its aftermathValue-based care is coming, but when?Notes from the Pharma forumMore about this episode: ONC, CDC want to fix the fragmented public health system COVID-19 exposedHIMSS21 tech news: cloud, analytics and interoperability developmentsUpdates and lessons learned from AstraZeneca, MGH's AMAZE platformGovs. Chris Christie and Terry McAuliffe trade jabs at HIMSS21COVID-19 shined light on new opportunities for public health on social mediaAI is the new paradigm in forecasting infectious disease riskFormer ONC head Rucker: APIs will ‘empower totally new business models’Rainn Wilson makes us grateful for being number twoDHA director: Information and technology drive effective pandemic response

As technological advances continue to disrupt the traditional primary-care model, providers must find a way to reconcile patients’ expectations for personal attention and on-demand service with an increasingly tech-driven healthcare landscape.

COVID-19 pandemic exposes vulnerabilities in the digital ecosystem; CMS anticipates $33 Medicare Part D Premiums . Plus: WellSky is deepens its social determinants of health offerings by acquiring Healthify.Links to the stories:Healthcare data breaches on the riseMedicare Part D average premiums to increase nearly 5% in 2022, CMS saysWellSky beefs up community care tools with Healthify acquisition

Limitations and uncertainty around telehealth reimbursement have always been an impediment to adoption. During the COVID-19 emergency, that burden was eased somewhat, but now the new normal is starting to take shape. What barriers still remain to telehealth reimbursement, and how might they be overcome?  To answer that question, host Jonah Comstock and Healthcare Finance News Managing Editor Susan Morse welcome McKinsey & Company Partners Oleg Bestsennyy and Gunjan Khanna.This episode is brought to you by BlueJeans.Talking points:COVID-19 reimbursement changes and which of them will stick aroundAdoption lessons learned and how they’ll influence reimbursement policyHolistic tele-care and care beyond the video visitInfluence of new entrants and innovation on the spaceIs fee-for-service reimbursement an innovation blocker?Reimbursement for different telehealth modalitiesTime to lead rather than follow for private payers?The still-unresolved question of induced utilizationThe rise of value-based care and hybrid care modelsTelehealth reimbursement and health equityHow are patients feeling about telehealth now?Final thoughts: the future of telehealth reimbursementMore about this episode:Report shows 'vast improvement' in state telehealth reimbursement policiesCOVID-19 may permanently alter the telehealth landscape, from reimbursement to utilizationTelehealth reimbursement parity spurs insurer concerns of overutilizationCMS will reimburse for 11 new telehealth services during the public health emergencyTelehealth: A quarter-trillion-dollar post-COVID-19 reality? (McKinsey)COVID-19 Consumer Healthcare Insights: What 2021 may hold (McKinsey)How COVID-19 has changed the way US consumers think about healthcare (McKinsey)

Health systems across the board are increasingly embracing digital transformation initiatives as the impact of the pandemic subsides.  The events of the past year have highlighted areas in need of immediate change that demand a different approach.  Key among these changes is simplification of the clinical IT experience, reducing and removing IT backpressure that distracts caregivers from the clinical experience.  By deliberately approaching the resources and information clinicians need, presented as a simplified and aggregated set of tools, Healthcare IT can accelerate the digital transformation efforts.