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ICYMI: Trending Healthcare Topics for January 2016

By February 2, 2016April 23rd, 2024No Comments

ICYMI: Trending Healthcare Topics for January 2016

By Sage Growth | February 2, 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.
  • 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:

  • 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.
  • 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.