Archive for 'Employers'
Accountable Care Organizations (ACO’S)
19 August 2010The concept of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO’s) was given a prominent place in this year’s reform legislation. In essence, an ACO is a network of healthcare providers that manage the full continuum of care for all patients within the provider network.
The goal of an ACO is to reduce costs and improve quality [...]
Healthcare Payment Reform
24 July 2008 In many ways, the nation’s current healthcare payment system creates inefficiencies by adding cost and complexity to healthcare administration. Achieving payment system reforms will require a level of cooperation among all stakeholders.
In the current volume-based payment system physicians and others who provide high-quality, efficient care and thereby reduce the volume of patient services, [...]
Virtual Office Visits
4 July 2008 The doctor doesn’t have to see you now. Thanks to new technology, patients may not always need a face-to-face visit with their doctor to get the care they need.
And thanks to a growing awareness of this fact on the part of health plans, structured, Internet-facilitated and reimbursable “virtual visits” are on the verge [...]
How Are Employer Medical Premium Dollars Being Spent?
4 July 2008 The Texas Medical Association and the National Federation of Independent Businesses have teamed up to help their members, most of which are small business owners, find out how much of their medical premium dollars are actually being spent by insurers on health care.
Thanks to a little-known piece of legislation passed by the Texas [...]
The Doctor Will See You Now – Online!
1 April 2008 If you could have the equivalent of a doctor’s appointment – via the Web – without actually going to the doctor, would you do it? Would you be willing to pay for it?
Some doctors and health insurers are betting that patients will hand over a co-pay or more for the convenience of describing [...]
Employer Healthcare Expenses
8 March 2008 Tracking expenses carefully is vital to a company’s success. With health insurance premiums making up an ever-growing portion of those expenses, insurance companies are under increased pressure to make it as easy as possible for policy holders to check on and understand their expenses.
In 2005, employer health insurance premiums increased by 9.2 percent [...]
