Healthcare Intelligence Network

Scott Schroeder, president and CEO of Cohorts, Inc., defines the segments of Generation X and Generation Y and how marketing channels and messages should be influenced by these segments. Lee Aase, Mayo clinic's manager of national media and new media, and Schroeder, along with Aric Hooverson, account director, Grey Worldwide San Francisco and Shelley Patchin, director of advertising, Wellpoint, provided an overview of the media preferences of these generations and the impact these preferences are having on healthcare marketing, products and services during a March 28, 2007 audio conference, Healthcare for the New Generations: Understanding and Engaging Generation "Xers" and "Yers" Through Tailored Products and Channels.

In the patient-centered "medical home" model, patients' families and communities have clear-cut responsibilities, explained Elizabeth Reardon, a consultant with Commonwealth Medicine in Massachusetts. Healthcare organizations can draw parallels from Ed Wagner's chronic care model and learn from the groundbreaking work pediatricians have done to assure continuity of care for children with special healthcare needs. She suggested tactics and resources for drawing families and communities into the medical home model.Reardon, along with Anne Hernandez, director of operations of APS Healthcare and Dr. George Rust, senior consultant for APS Healthcare and Interim Director of the National Center for Primary Care, Morehouse School of Medicine, shared strategies on building an effective medical home project and the impact these programs can have on patient outcomes and satisfaction during a March 7, 2007 audio conference, Utilizing Medical Homes to Create a Patient-Centered Approach to Managing Chronic Conditions.

Implementing an electronic health record (EHR) in 1998 has transformed the way the four-location North Fulton Family Practice in Georgia does business. Dr. Jim Morrow, North Fulton's vice president and chief information officer, described how the EHR has enhanced physician-patient "face time"and care management and improved efficiency, productivity and profitability at the 20-provider practice. He even said that having an EHR has made him a better physician. Dr. Morrow and Dr. Joel Diamond, medical director of Diamond, Fera and Associates, provided physician practices with the key factors to consider when deciding to implement an EHR, along with the critical steps to a successful EHR implementation during a March 21, 2007 audio conference, Essential Elements for Physician Practice PFP Success: Key Steps in EHR Selection and Implementation.

Dr. Joel Diamond, medical director of Diamond, Fera and Associates, explained how concentrating on people rather than IT and engaging the medical leadership and the rest of the staff at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center for successful hospital implementation of an electronic health record and how these lessons can be applied to a physician practice. Diamond also described how his practice achieved a one-year ROI turnaround from its EHR implementation. Dr. Jim Morrow, North Fulton's vice president and chief information officer and Dr. Diamond provided physician practices with the key factors to consider when deciding to implement an EHR, along with the critical steps to a successful EHR implementation during a March 21, 2007 audio conference, Essential Elements for Physician Practice PFP Success: Key Steps in EHR Selection and Implementation.

Beyond the issues one might expect from serving the dual eligible population, the Minnesota Senior Health Options' (MSHO) program also addresses the service barriers that occur in a rural setting. Sarah Keenan, clinical liaison with Medica, described how MSHO responds to these service issues and how the inevitable breakdowns during care transitions are managed through MSHO's "care coordination" efforts, which ensure communication between providers and follow a patient seamlessly through transitions of care. The flexibility inherent in MassHealth's Senior Care Options model empowers providers to offer on-site and community-based care to enrollees, improves the level of service offered to diverse populations and offers participants a seamless transition to the Medicare part D pharmacy benefits. Keenan and Diane Flanders, director of coordinated care systems for MassHealth, described how to create a coordinated care management approach for dual eligibles during a February 14th audio conference, Managing Transitions to Care for the Dually Eligible Medicare and Medicaid Patient.

Diane Flanders, director of coordinated care systems for MassHealth, provided an overview of the unique partnership that is designed to keep its seniors as well as possible, and in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Sarah Keenan, clinical liaison with Medica and Flanders described how to create a coordinated care management approach for dual eligibles during a February 14th audio conference, Managing Transitions to Care for the Dually Eligible Medicare and Medicaid Patient.

With the growth of consumer-driven healthcare, the Internet is playing a large role in disseminating information due to its convenience and its ease of use. John Mills, director of product management with HIP Health Plans, and Kim Bellard, vice president of eMarketing with Highmark Inc. discussed the Web-based tools their companies have implemented to improve the healthcare experience for consumers. John Mills introduced some of the web-based initiatives his company has begun to use, and also discussed the impact of having easily accessible information available on the HIP Web site. Kim Bellard discussed how his company's use of technology helps consumers make informed decisions and their proactive approach to promoting the use of their Web site. Both speakers discussed the benefits as well as the possible challenges and pitfalls of these new ventures, as well as the role that consumer education plays in all arenas of information dissemination. Bellard and Mills examined how healthcare organizations are providing online tools to ensure that consumers have the information they need to not only take more responsibility for their health status, but also to get the right treatment at the right time at the right place during a January 25th audio conference, Using Web Technologies in Consumer-Driven Healthcare for Transparency Decision Support and Health Promotion.

With the growth of consumer-driven healthcare, the Internet is playing a large role in disseminating information due to its convenience and its ease of use. John Mills, director of product management with HIP Health Plans, and Kim Bellard, vice president of eMarketing with Highmark Inc. discussed the Web-based tools their companies have implemented to improve the healthcare experience for consumers. John Mills introduced some of the web-based initiatives his company has begun to use, and also discussed the impact of having easily accessible information available on the HIP Web site. Kim Bellard discussed how his company's use of technology helps consumers make informed decisions and their proactive approach to promoting the use of their Web site. Both speakers discussed the benefits as well as the possible challenges and pitfalls of these new ventures, as well as the role that consumer education plays in all arenas of information dissemination. Bellard and Mills examined how healthcare organizations are providing online tools to ensure that consumers have the information they need to not only take more responsibility for their health status, but also to get the right treatment at the right time at the right place during a January 25th audio conference, Using Web Technologies in Consumer-Driven Healthcare for Transparency Decision Support and Health Promotion.

Dr. Bruce Bagley, medical director of quality improvement with the American Academy of Family Physicians, described his organization's willingness to support physicians as CMS expands its Physician Voluntary Reporting Program (PVRP), the role of electronic medical records in the CMS initiative, and predicted just how long this program will remain voluntary. Participating in PVRP can have a daunting effect on office work flow. Each time CMS adds a measure to PVRP, Beaver Medical Group in Redlands, California has to reconfigure its entire IT system. Dr. Bagley and Dr. Ronald Bangasser, a family practice physician with Beaver, provided an update on the CMS' voluntary reporting program and what impact the program will have on physician practices in 2007 during a January 9th audio conference, CMS' Voluntary Physician Reporting Program: Preparing for the Feedback and 2007 Updates.

Dr. Ronald Bangasser, a family practice physician with Beaver, described the impact that sharing quality data with CMS has had on his organization, his predictions for the expansion of the reporting program, and his view of the recently legislated financial incentives CMS will award to participating physicians beginning in July 2007. Dr. Bruce Bagley, medical director of quality improvement with the American Academy of Family Physicians and Dr. Bangasser provided an update on the CMS' voluntary reporting program and what impact the program will have on physician practices in 2007 during a January 9th audio conference, CMS' Voluntary Physician Reporting Program: Preparing for the Feedback and 2007 Updates.