August 27, 2020 | Risks and rewards of senior telehealth
INDUSTRY NEWS
Who would be on a Biden health care team?
MedPage Today recently published a list of health leaders who could have senior positions in a Biden administration. Many are under 50. One is Vivek Murthy, MD, who served as Surgeon General under President Obama. He leads the campaign’s health care team and is a top contender for Health and Human Services secretary. Kavita Patel, MD, a primary care physician and a Brookings fellow, is on the shortlist to run CMS. Shantanu Agrawal, MD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum, was a deputy CMS administrator during the Obama administration. He may be in line to lead AHRQ. (MedPage Today)
Seniors and telehealth: Opportunities and risk
The percentage of older adults who had ever participated in a telehealth visit rose from 4% in May 2019 to 30% in June 2020, according to the University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging. However, those patients still considered in-office visits more effective. HealthLeaders Media provides an overview of the report outlining risks (e.g., a lack of technological expertise among many older Americans) and opportunities (e.g., respondents found the telehealth visit easy). (HealthLeaders Media; University of Michigan National Poll on Healthy Aging)
INNOVATION & TRANSFORMATION
Uber enters medication delivery business
Uber is piloting prescription deliveries in Dallas and Seattle. It expects to expand to other cities soon. Uber’s health arm is partnering with NimbleRx, an online medication-delivery platform for independent pharmacies. Users must sign up for NimbleRx through their local pharmacy and select Uber as the delivery option at checkout. The cost of delivery will vary based on location, time and delivery speed preference. It represents the third major growth initiative of Uber Health, which launched in 2018. (Dallas Morning News; The Motley Fool)
Overall, ACO savings have been relatively limited; nevertheless, there are many examples of successful ACOs with meaningful savings—as in 5% or more of the total cost of care. Analysts at McKinsey ask—and attempt to answer—“Why are some health care provider organizations faring better than others under total cost of care arrangements?” They look at four factors, including market-share gains and operating costs. The four elements underpin the “math of ACOs.” (McKinsey)
CONSUMERS & PROVIDERS
Behavioral health: Spend more to save?
Behavioral health patients account for an outsized 57% of commercial health care spending, according to research from Millman. Despite this, payors and employers spend little on behavioral health treatment. “It’s almost unimaginable how small a percentage of money went toward psychiatric care and treatment,” Dr. Jeffrey Geller, president of the American Psychiatric Association, tells Modern Healthcare. Researchers found that the 27% of people who had a behavioral health condition in addition to other medical problems accounted for 57% of total annual health care costs across the entire study population. (Modern Healthcare)
CWF: New stats on health coverage
In the first half of 2020, 43.4% of U.S. adults 19-64 were inadequately insured, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey. The adult uninsured rate was 12.5%. Both are statistically unchanged from 2018, the last time the survey was conducted. According to the study’s lead author, the survey highlights a "persistent vulnerability" in the U.S. health care system: unreliable insurance coverage. (Healthcare Dive; Commonwealth Fund survey)
NEW & NOTED
Med school applications up: Medical schools are seeing a double-digit increase in applications compared to this time last year, according to both the Association of American Medical Colleges and the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine. (MedPage Today)
We have a date: The U.S. Supreme Court announced it will hear arguments in a case challenging the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act after the election—specifically, on Nov. 10. A decision is expected in June 2021. (Kaiser Health News)
CBT beats yoga for anxiety: Kundalini yoga appears to curb anxiety but not as well as cognitive behavioral therapy, according to researchers writing in JAMA Psychiatry. (JAMA Psychiatry)
MULTI-MEDIA
COVID leads to clinician exhaustion, burnout
As the pandemic goes on, “the unflappable health care heroes of the current crisis are beginning to crack under the strain,” NPR reports. (NPR)
MARKETVOICES...QUOTES WORTH READING
“If you can effectively coordinate treatment for [people’s] behavioral and medical conditions, you can end up reducing healthcare costs by a significant amount.”—Steve Melek, of Millman, quoted in Modern Healthcare