ICYMI: Trending Healthcare Topics for January 2016
An overview of the changes, trends, and newsmakers from the past month
The new year is off to a raucous start for the healthcare industry. Data from 2015 has been analyzed and released, and new innovations and partnerships are paving the way for change in the new year. As we settle in to 2016, here’s the news from January that’s been on our mind—how about you?
The healthcare industry:
- Patients don’t understand post-discharge plans: A study from the American Journal of Surgery finds that most patients don’t understand their post-discharge care plans—which can lead to unnecessary readmissions.
- Nurse leaders and PhDs: As nurse practitioners gain more and more PCP market share, Nurses magazine encourages the next generation of bold nurse leaders to get a PhD to incite transformative change in healthcare; less than one percent of the current nurse workforce has a PhD.
- ACA enrollment exceeds estimate: More than 11.3 million people have enrolled in coverage through ACA insurance exchanges, well exceeding the White House estimate of 10 million people.
- Healthcare employment grows: Almost 475,000 healthcare jobs were added to the industry in 2015, continuing the employment growth of healthcare—more that 1.86 jobs have been added during Obama’s presidency.
Progress and innovations:
- Private hospitals and community health benefits: As the number of uninsured Americans drops, hospitals are becoming more interested in expanding their traditional community outreach and involvement—and gaining tax benefits as they do.
- IBM and Under Armour announce new partnership: IBM and Under Armour have partnered to develop data-backed health and fitness insights for consumers, powered by Watson’s cognitive computing technology; the population health management implications could be significant.
- MedStar and Uber partnership: MedStar and Uber have partnered to try and increase access to care by adding a “Ride with Uber” button on the MedStarHealth.org website.
Population health:
- What to expect in 2016: HIT Consultant interviewed Tom Zajac, CEO of Wellcentive, to take a look at what healthcare organizations can expect in population health in 2016.
- Pop health and social determinants: As the industry sorts out how to thrive under value-based payment models, understanding how to adjust for the social determinants of health is a continuing challenge for providers.
- New public-private partnership between HHS and CVS Health: In an effort to make consumer-focused health more convenient and accessible, HHS and CVS Health announced a new partnership to promote and recommend preventative health services through healthfinder.gov—a great step forward in making healthcare more consumer driven.