Nine Reasons Health Execs Are Excited for the Future

“A recent event that strikes me as powerfully incremental-that can explode to a crescendo-is the latest payment initiative CMS has introduced-the Direct Contracting (DC) Model introduced in April. DC is a series of risk-sharing arrangements that will allow provider organizations to contract directly with CMS to serve Medicare. This is the latest in a series of payment innovations introduced by CMS that essentially is helping fund the innovation needed to move the payment system to an outcomes-based model. As someone very skeptical of government, I find it inspiring that CMS takes its obligation to foment a competitive market response that will be beneficial to all stakeholders.”

-Don McDaniel, CEO, Canton & Company

“I am inspired and hopeful by the advancements made this year by Google’s AI Impact Challenge project … Google and their Challenge partners are working to solve some of the world’s most complex problems through machine learning and artificial intelligence. One particularly impressive advancement was … where researchers explored the different modes of refinement for pathology-related image-based searches, and evaluated their effects on doctor interactions with similar image search technologies. The results were nothing short of astounding and will certainly improve accuracy, support physician decision making, and improve error prone processes. Wow!”

-Trisha Swift, DNP, MSN, RN, CPPS, vice president, clinical transformation, ZeOmega

“I’m encouraged and excited to see providers, payers, and other stakeholders collaborating more closely to deliver life-changing results for patients. A joint venture between BCBS of Minnesota and North Memorial Health is just one recent example where stakeholders are joining forces to improve the cost and quality of care for patients. We need to embrace opportunities to enhance the patient experience across the care continuum, and it’s inspiring to see new partnerships focused on achieving this.”

-Jerry Buller, chief pharmacy officer, Trellis Rx

“Almost a decade after the first handheld ultrasound was introduced, we’re at a tipping point where more and more healthcare providers are discovering how it can enhance their practices. Just as you can find the stethoscope in any primary care doctor’s office, handheld ultrasound technology is on track to become ubiquitous across the healthcare continuum over the next decade. Perhaps the most exciting group to adopt the tool is in fact primary care physicians, who are realizing the immense value of having an additional diagnostic tool to enable confident rule-in or rule-out decisions at the point of care. We look forward to seeing how general practitioners expand the type and quality of care they can provide.” 

-James Hurley, general manager, Handheld Ultrasound, GE Healthcare

“While talk of digital transformation is ever-present in the healthcare revenue cycle space, I am inspired by those who ‘walk the walk’ on advancing intelligent automation in the revenue cycle to achieve superior performance on the well-known problems provider organizations face every day. Recent innovation and the investments made in elevating RCM performance help address high-value and currently unsolved RCM challenges associated with cost to collect, denials management, and improving the patient’s financial experience. Leveraging the skill and experience of those who understand its complexity and many nuances, intelligent automation is already driving revenue cycle success-reducing cost to collect of up to 15% and denial write offs by 50%.”

-Gary Johnson, senior vice president, R1 RCM

“Medicare for All is a popular political idea and a term that high healthcare costs in 2019 forced into the limelight. It’s why many Democratic presidential candidates support it in some way, but are far from agreement on what it would look like. 75% of healthcare costs are driven by chronic conditions that are either preventable or manageable, yet the traditional healthcare system largely does not address the growing prevalence of chronic conditions ... Changing the healthcare system makes for a lively debate, but affordable, quality primary care is the key.”

-Debra Geihsler, principal, Activate Healthcare

“In June, President Trump announced a new executive order to improve healthcare price transparency, and hospitals across the country will feel its impact. The order marked meaningful progress beyond the HHS rule that required hospitals to post retail chargemasters to their websites. The prospect of putting more actionable information in patients’ hands is an inspiring step in the right direction. However, the ability for hospitals to provide accurate estimates of financial responsibility is complex, and there is understandable concern about how to accomplish the desired outcome of the Executive Order. Fortunately, many in the industry have made significant strides toward using data, technology, and artificial intelligence.”

-Paul Shorrosh, CEO and founder, AccuReg

“In March President Trump signed an executive order creating a task force to address veteran suicide and put a national spotlight on a staggering problem: how and if active duty military and veteran populations receive the mental health treatment they need. Our country has been struggling to find solutions to the lack of high-quality mental healthcare options for our nation’s heroes. Members of the armed forces can face unique behavioral health challenges such as combat-related post-traumatic stress and depression. While increasing access to specialized mental health treatment for service members is critical, we must continue to work toward destigmatizing mental illness and encouraging individuals to seek help.”

-Stuart Archer, CEO, Oceans Healthcare

"Healthcare events that empower consumers to be pro-active in managing their medical decisions and costs are game changers in healthcare cost control. Medicare’s effort to push price transparency qualifies as a big event that eventually will open the ‘black box’ of pricing healthcare. Originally focused on hospital price lists, hospitals’ first postings confused more than clarified costs for consumers because of the complex financial arrangements in healthcare ... But that effort led to Medicare development of online applications for looking up procedure costs, and they will certainly develop further into realistic and comparable price transparency tools. The initiative has also resulted in rules for sharing drug prices.”

 -Theresa Hush, CEO, Roji Health Intelligence