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The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Aug 18, 2016 ⋅ #235
Dear Group,
I often point out that the healthcare system, at least in the United States, is primarily focused on disease treatment and cure, not disease prevention. Specifically, the system does little, relatively speaking, to address the behavioral factors responsible for chronic diseases that account for 86% of healthcare costs. This represents a massive opening for digital health solutions to improve health, reduce costs, innovate in technology and business, and grow the economy. But there are exceptions to this general rule, the latest being a Kaiser Permanente study showing that heart attack rates among an ethnically diverse population of more than 3.8 million members in California fell 23% from 2008 to 2014. According to lead author Dr. Matthew Solomon, of the Division of Cardiology, “This persistent reduction in the risk of heart attack is a testament to Kaiser Permanente’s ongoing primary and secondary prevention efforts at a community level. We have implemented system-wide programs for the management of blood pressure and cholesterol, diabetes and other chronic illnesses, which has resulted in nation-leading reductions in heart disease among our members.” While it’s unclear if the efforts of KP were solely responsible for the disease prevention improvement, as I’ve also pointed out with consumer digital health, you don’t need a clinical trial to show efficacy when the population level numbers and research show positive results. If there’s benefit, great. Getting paid and reimbursed is a separate question.
Speaking of getting paid, many of you have heard the big Aetna announcement that it is dropping out of the Affordable Care Act/Obamacare health insurance exchanges in 11 states (apparently making good on a threat it made to the United States government that it would do so if it’s merger with Humana was blocked, which it was). But that’s not the story at Kaiser Permanente, the $61B system that includes health plans, hospitals, and medical groups. CEO Bernard Tyson tells Modern Healthcare that “The idea that I would turn my back on a segment of the American population who really needs the coverage and the care—I’m in for the long haul. I view it through the lens of my mission, it obligates to us to figure it out, not to get out. Some of the competitors who are getting out of the market, the question is, have they been a stronghold in the individual markets? I think some of the big players who have a long-term commitment to the individual markets—the Blues, an organization like Kaiser Permanente—probably will figure it out.”
Flipping the script and looking at an example of consumer digital health efforts, while I was happy to see that McDonald’s in Canada had introduced a new fitness-tracker toy in their Happy Meal, they unfortunately hit a minor speed bump when it had to be immediately discontinued and recalled due to skin irritation. We’ve seen this happen with high-end wearable tech as well. I applaud the efforts of McDonald’s as the intent was great and it drew attention to the importance of movement and exercise in the minds of impressionable kids.
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Paul Sonnier
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The post The Digital Health Update by Paul Sonnier ⋅ Aug 18, 2016 ⋅ #235 appeared first on Paul Sonnier - Story of Digital Health.
from Paul Sonnier – Story of Digital Health http://storyofdigitalhealth.com/digital-health-update-paul-sonnier-aug-18-2016-235/
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