In The Know - MEDSEEK News and Expert Opinion on the eHealth Industry

Will your state have an HIE to connect to?

A criteria of Meaningful Use, part of the requirements of the HITECH Act, is to connect to a Health Information Exchange(HIE). The question is, will your state have an HIE ready by 2011? On August 20th Joe Biden, United States Vice President, announced in a press release that additional funding will be provided to states to support in the development of HIEs with the ultimate goal of developing a national network.

MEDSEEK’s Brad Hawkins, Vice President - Clinical Experience, was interviewed regarding the implementations of HIEs in the August edition of the eHealth Strategy and Trends newsletter for their series “Ask An Expert.” In the article, Brad provides an insightful look at building an internal HIE inside the four walls of a  hospital and then what it takes to build a regional HIE, the building blocks to establishing a true exchange of health information within a state and then across the nation.

So how far along is your hospital/region/state in the process?

To read the full article follow this link.

Consumers look to browsers to help keep them healthy

A new survey shows that individuals want to communicate with health insurers and physicians through electronic means for advice on improving health conditions and coordinating better health care with providers. The Microsoft Health Engagement Survey 2009 found that of the 1,002 participants in the survey, taken in March, 66% are interested in receiving health-related advice or reminder emails from their health insurance company and 52% would like emails containing feedback on their health progress.

Despite the self-help tools and Web sites that insurers offer, 49% of individuals feel their health plans support them only when they need a doctor, instead of helping them to stay well, according to the survey. Hospital executives should see this shortcoming as an opportunity to expand their market share by offering eHealth related services in preventive care such as hosting educational events, utilizing CRM systems, presenting health content using Web 2.0 applications, providing patient portals and creating disease management sites - to name just a few possibilities.

To read the full article and gain access to the survey follow this link:
www.healthcareitnews.com/news/consumers-want-technology-help-keep-them-healthy-survey-shows

Is Health 2.0 A Key Driver for Market Share for Hospitals?

The power of “Search” has given the empowered consumer access to more health related information.

Americans Want a Personal Health Record

According to Professor Alan F. Westin developed and Knowledge Networks conducted a survey among 1,580 American adults (18+) nationwide, May 13-22, 2008, commissioned by the Markle Foundation.

Transparency at what cost?

As hospitals, insurers work to be more upfront on their pricing, questions remain over demand for the data and its usefulness

Article by: Cinda Becker

MEDSEEK Unveils New Educational Webinar Series: reThinking eHealth

Birmingham, Ala.– July 15, 2008 –MEDSEEK, the leading provider of enterprise portal connectivity solutions, announced today that it will present a monthly webinar series focused on the unique challenges facing the healthcare industry in the “Age of Consumerism.”

MEDSEEK Announces 100 Percent Rise In Sales Bookings and Deal Size for First Quarter of 2008

Twenty-six new and existing customers signed contracts for MEDSEEK’s enterprise-wide portal solutions and consulting services

MEDSEEK signs 59 new software agreements and consulting projects during 2007

Today we announced the results from 2007, and it was another great year of revenue growth. During the year we welcomed 19 new health system customers (representing over 40 hospitals) and signed 59 software agreements and professional services engagements. While we finished our seventh consecutive year of revenue growth, we tackled some challenges and continue to work hard to serve our customers as we grow. We are very excited about 2008, as it will be a year of continued growth and new product innovation.

“Over the past 12 months, MEDSEEK has made a significant investment towards the development of a state of the art technology platform that will be the foundation for the delivery of MEDSEEK solutions to the market over the next 5 – 7 years”, said Peter Kuhn, president of MEDSEEK. “We are proud of the work we started to enhance our enterprise portal offering and continue to work hard to deliver these enhancements in 2008”.

For the complete press release visit our news channel.

New study supporting the value the patient experience plays in driving hospital revenue

McKinsey & Co recently published survey data from over 2,000 interviews with patients and over 100 physicians. The purpose was to begin quantifying the influence the patient "experience" has on a patient's [and their physician's] decision making process in selecting a hospital.

Wow! MEDSEEK has been advocating this for the past 12 years. It's great that such a great consulting firm validates the value we create for our hospital customers.

It's one of the first studies to explore the relationship between the non-clinical "experience" one has with the hospital and it's relative impact on the selection of services and where to receive them.

Key findings include (paraphrased from the report):

• About 41% on the nonclinical experience has an influence on their choice of hospitals.
• More than 50% of patients interviewed said they definitely would switch to a hospital known for giving its patients a positive experience—all other things (including the quality of clinical care) being equal.
• About 75% of patients reported they will consider switching if they think that a specific hospital will keep them better informed about their treatment.
• 94% of the primary-care physicians (and 92 percent of the specialists) said that patients now have at least as much or more influence over which hospital they will visit as they did three years ago.
• Remarkably, our survey found that almost 30% of the general practitioners would honor their patients’ requests to be treated at hospitals with a reputation for providing a superior nonclinical consumer experience even if they thought those facilities were clinically inferior to one or more of the alternatives.

An abstract of the results are clipped here:

clipped from www.mckinseyquarterly.com New research indicates that US patients and physicians are more and more likely to base their choice of hospital on nonclinical aspects of a visit—like convenience and amenities. Yet few hospitals have the marketing skills, the organizational structure, or the operating approach needed to deliver a distinctive experience in the way that retailing and hospitality companies do. As competition for commercially insured patients heats up, US hospitals will have to invest in the capabilities needed to learn what these patients want and to deliver an experience that could attract them. Hospitals that succeed should gain a sustainable competitive advantage.

The full report is available for purchase from McKinsey & Co.

eHealth delivers, lets take a closer look

Our very own Peter Kuhn was published in the December 2007 issue of ADVANCE for Healthcare Information Executives. Several customer success stories are highlighted including East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, La, Edward Hospital & Health Services in Naperville, Ill., Munroe Regional Medical Center in Ocala, Fla, and Henry Ford Health System (HFHS) in Detroit, Mich.

Here's an excerpt:

Today's information-driven society is changing health care (for good or bad we'll save for another discussion) forever. Consumer expectations are more demanding of our institutions, where access to timely, relevant information is a clear market differentiator. Hospitals that embrace these changing dynamics will thrive in the coming years.

As hospitals begin addressing these new challenges, many are turning to e-health as their foundation for creating a positive, differentiated experience. It's certainly not the only answer, but key to engaging and interacting with an information-driven constituency.

Shifting processes to the Internet

By leveraging the power of the global network to fundamentally transform how they interact with their constituencies — consumers, patients, physicians and employees — and shifting business processes to the Internet, organizations can differentiate themselves in their local hospital market.

Smart, progressive organizations that invest in their constituents' overall experience with the organization will find that their investment will more than pay off in improved patient and physician satisfaction, more effective community advocacy, increased downstream revenue, better employee collaboration and clinical excellence. The investment also will strengthen their ties to consumers, patients and patients. In the past, for example, hospitals built office space within or near their hospital to forge relationships with physicians. Smart organizations will continue to use that tactic, but they also will use Web portals to supplement their physician recruitment and retention initiatives.

Hospitals currently are deploying Web portals that enable doctors to access and direct patient data remotely, sparing them a road trip to the hospital or forcing them to make clinical decisions without the benefit of all the information they need because the patient's paper record is unavailable. Given the choice of selecting a hospital that helps them practice more efficiently versus one that doesn't, physicians will go with the former.

Innovative hospitals also are delivering information online to help patients take better care of themselves and schedule appointments, making it more convenient for existing and prospective patients to interact with and access their services.