Nashville Technology Council

Nashville Tech Story (3/24/10)

By now we have all heard about the Health Insurance Reform package passed late Sunday evening.  We have been looking for a good summary.  Deloitte sent us the following link to help us keep up with the progress of the bill as the Senate reconciles its version to the House Bill that was passed.  We didn’t think you wanted to read all 2,400 pages of the bill.  The market responded positively yesterday, but there are many tanning salons looking for new revenue streams this morning.

http://www.deloitte.com/view/en_US/us/Insights/Browse-by-Content-Type/Newsletters/health-care-reform-memo/315a3bd377587210VgnVCM100000ba42f00aRCRD.htm

The cost of the House reconciliation bill is $940 billion over 10 years. Major expenses are:

• $434 billion for expansion of Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Plans enrollment
• $466 billion for subsidies to fund insurance for individuals and families up to 400 percent of the federal poverty level
• $40 billion for small employer tax credits

Among the proposed sources of funding from the Congressional Budget Office’s (CBO) preliminary analysis combining HR3590 and HR4872 are:

• $60 billion penalties paid by individuals and employers that do not buy insurance*
• $196 billion in reduced Medicare scheduled payments
• $36 billion in cuts to Medicare and Medicaid Disproportionate Share (DSH) payments
• $70 billion from premiums for long-term care insurance (CLASS Act)
• $132 billion in cuts to Medicare Advantage Plans
• $32 billion from taxes on Cadillac health plans*
• $103 billion Medicare payroll tax increases*
• $57 billion excise taxes on insurance companies (2014-2018), plus $14.3 billion per year plus adjustment thereafter*
• $31 billion excise taxes on brand name pharmaceutical companies (2010-2019), plus $2.8 billion per year thereafter*
• 2.3 percent sales tax on medical devices*
• $58 billion Pell Grant privatization (unrelated to health reform)

Source: CBO Preliminary Analysis, March 20, 2010

The Nashville Tech Story (8/8/09)

This week we heard from several leaders in healthcare and technology about micro apps and EHRs.  Yesterday, the DOD announced a new initiative to entrust Google and Microsoft with the housing of their EHR.  This seems to be a major tipping point for our country and possibly for Nashville.

So it started us thinking about what is Nashville’s EHR strategy.  I believe every health system in town is working on something, but shouldn’t we, the Silicon Valley of Healthcare, be doing something as a community?  We would really like to hear from the providers, payers, and consumers about your thoughts on this critical topic.

We will meet again on August 27, 2009, at 7:30 am at Midtown Noshville to talk EHRs.  This breakfast will focus on micro apps as they relate to the EHR.  What could we build to provide base analytics to the community?

The Nashville Tech Story (8/6/2009)

The Nashville Technology Council hosted our “Naked Hospital” event this morning.  The event revolved around health care reform and transparency.  Our second speaker was U.S. Congressman Marsha Blackburn who provided the audience with a legislative update on the health care reform issue.

Congressman Blackburn is concerned by the state of confusion revolving around patients.  She fully believe’s that it’s frustrating to both employers and patients because the system is currently not as transparent as it should be.  Many individuals have issues with simply finding where to go when they don’t understand the paperwork they recieve from their physician, hospital or insurance provider.

While transparency is extremely important, one of the components that cannot be overlooked and must also be transparent is the educational aspect.  Patients need to be able to understand their insurance policies, bills being sent to them by their doctor ’s, and what the information means that hospital’s are giving them.  With education will come the discussion to start making patients liable.

Everyone agrees that costs are too high, access is very limited and tort reform needs to take place.  Currently, some of the conversation taking place in government revolves around making individuals more responsible, which includes something as simple as following a doctor’s orders and taking prescription drugs as they are prescribed.   

Health IT is also a very important component that needs to be addressed.  The benefits that Health IT can provide can provide an enormous source of savings and efficiency.  One example of this is taking advantage of Electronic Medical Records (EMR).  Congressman Blackburn is a big believer that every patient should own their medical record, which would create a huge cost savings for the health care industry.  The best example of this was after Katrina, which would have saved cost had individuals had access to an EMR. 

“Our hope is that going back you will see a beginning to whittle down and find the areas of agreement to yield efficiencies and savings,” said Congressman Blackburn.  ”We want to be able to move something to the President’s desk by the end of the year that will deal with IT issues and create some reform.”

If you want to learn more about these issues, visit Congressman Blackburn’s website at www.Blackburn.house.gov

The Nashville Tech Story (7/31/09)

Part II – Is Quality or Cost More Important?

In Part I we discussed the amount of money being spent on healthcare.  Today, we will talk more directly to the opportunity of healthcare and technology.

We have the best healthcare system in the world.  Well not really, according to the 2009 WHO World Health Statistics.  It is good, but we are not the best.  However, we do spend the most per capita.  So are we really getting good value for our money?

A local firm, Data Advantage has created the Hospital Value Index to help consumers understand which hospitals provide the best quality at the best price.  It is surprising to see who is number 1 in Nashville.

Don’t care about costs?  I  just want the best hospital when I need care.  This is a prevailing theme when we need care.  Well the government is here to help us once again.  Visit Hospital Compare to get a detailed view of outcomes in US Hospitals.

How about if we just cut the administrative cost of paying for all the procedures across the United States?  Did you know there are approximately 13 billion transactions a year in America?  Across town, Emdeon’s US Healthcare Index projects a 20% increase in electronic transactions would save approximately $34 Billion.  That would be a good start.

Get engaged with the conversation.

Register today for the Naked Hospital.

The Nashville Tech Story (7/29/09)

Part I – Deja Vu

I remember the last time we had this debate as a country.  It was 1997.  The Internet was still in its infancy.  AOL was the dominant brand.  Yahoo was an upstart.  Google hadn’t launched.

Hillary was leading the charge to change healthcare.  Healthcare was only $1.1 trillion and a measly 13.5% of the GDP.  Let’s fast forward to 2007, the most current year reported.  Total health expenditures reached $2.2 trillion (doubled in 10 years), which translates to $7,421 per person or 16.2 percent of the nation’s GDP.

In 10 more years, will it be 20 percent of the GDP?  My guess is yes, unless a true revolution occurs.

Fortunately, our government is very good at accounting for healthcare expenditures.  Visit this link to check out the detailed national healthcare expenditures. 

Wow, who pays for the healthcare?  Businesses (25 percent), households (31 percent), other private sponsors (4 percent), and governments (40 percent).  In short, we all do.  Our taxes go to pay for the government’s spend, business profits go towards the insurance burden most companies pay today.  It is a bleak picture.

What I do know is that this is really an exciting time for businesses in technology in Nashville, the Silicon Valley of Healthcare.  It is time for us to get educated on the topic and make our voices heard across the country.  The Nashville Health Care Council hosted a great luncheon last month with Msgrs. Perlin, Brailer, Detmer, and Stead and this month, we will follow it up with a detailed look at transparency and ehealth.  Get engaged with the conversation.

Register today for the Naked Hospital.