27 Aug Innovation Digest – August 2019 Vol. 2

I love a good debate. So, it’s not surprising that many of the articles in this edition put out some unique viewpoints about transparency, what really drives patient decision-making and payment and structural aspects of our healthcare system. Regardless of your take on the issues, I think a universal opinion is that our current status quo isn’t delivering consistently or effectively for patients, for clinicians, for payers. Common sense solutions are emerging — expanding reimbursement to social determinants, outcomes based contracting, emphasizing transparency – but need vigorous leaders in all sectors to build momentum.

In this issue:

• Column: Health insurance companies are useless. Get rid of them
• Why Doctors Should Organize
• CMS takes steps to promote antibiotic drug development
• Gain Insights About Your Patients’ Preferences for Care Settings
• Hospitals, Insurers Pan Proposed Price Transparency Rule – Will push prices, premiums higher, they say
• Taking a More Active Role: The Main Ingredient for Controlling Prescription Drug Costs
• Evaluating Open Payments
• Big Data, Big Tech, and Protecting Patient Privacy