The Health Shopper

Last week Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that HHS would start to collect health data on the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, as well as introduce new standards for reporting and collecting data on ethnicity, sex, disability status, etc.

“Health disparities have persistent and costly affects for minority communities, and the whole country,” Sebelius said. “Today we are taking critical steps toward ensuring the collection of useful national data on minority groups, including for the first time, LGBT populations. The data we will eventually collect in these efforts will serve as powerful tools and help us in our fight to end health disparities.”

Earlier this week we blogged about insurer-run retail clinics. A report from the Washington Post has pinpointed a new trend in insurer-run clinics: workplace health care. In the past, workplace clinics served a basic first-aid purpose for on-the-job injuries. Recently, employers have broadened the clinics to encompass more primary care oriented service. Of employers with 500 plus employees 15 percent already had on-site clinics with primary care services in 2010, according to consulting firm Mercer, and another 10 percent were considering the possibility.

What’s in it for the employer?

The employer’s motivation is twofold according to senior health researcher Ha Tu: providing immediate and consistent primary care could prevent potentially costly health issues in the long run; employees would also be given treatment that corresponds to their individual needs via evidence-based guidelines, leading to fewer outside tests and referrals.
According to physician Bruce Hochstadt at Mercer’s on-site clinic employers are also worried about adding a burden to the current strained health care system, especially in light of the addition of over 30 million health care recipients newly-qualified under the Affordable Care Act. Workplace health care may help alleviate some of the load. However, the future of on-site clinics after 2014 has been called into question – there is concern that health care and health care services may no longer be offered by employers in light of 2014’s health exchanges. But for now, on-site clinics are on the upswing.

What’s in it for insurers?

A large part of the draw for insurers is increased cost control and marketing opportunity. By providing care directly to the consumer insurers can get more hands-on with medical costs as well as begin marketing to the 30 million plus who will be required to purchase health care in 2014. According to CEO John Gorman of Gorman Health Group, insurers are currently more interested in controlling the spending of money as opposed to making money. “When you own the facility and you own the people who work there, it’s a lot easier to shape it in a way that conforms to the economic necessities of the local market,” Gorman said. The approach is akin to that of hospitals, which have recently begun to invest in clinics and primary care services alongside emergency care.

What’s in it for you?

For most working Americans, who spend 40 plus hours at the workplace per week according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, on-site clinics are a practical option for basic health care services. Additionally, the clinics tend to have lower prices than community-based clinics. Provided services can range from basic annual physicals to long-term health management for chronic disease.

How would you feel about an on-site clinic at your workplace? Would you use one? Do you already have one? Let us know in the comments!

Revealed on March 21, the new reform-mandated National Strategy for Quality Improvement in Health Care from the Department of Health and Human Services provides guidelines and examples of priority quality-improvements. The plan has been applauded by hospitals and providers for the focus on prevention, wellness, consumer-centeredness, and the community-based style.

In the 23-page strategy, HHS’ three main goals — of promoting quality of healthcare, improving the health of the population, and affordable health insurance — are put into action by an array of six outlined aims.

In addition, HHS set forth 10 principles by which to execute projects centered around quality-improvement. Among these, HHS has required that payment models incentivize good health habits and highlighted the value of health IT as well as innovation in improving the quality of health care.

Called upon by the Affordable Care Act the National Quality Strategy will include concrete metrics, best practices, goals and up-to-date research after consultation and development during the first year’s strategy. Currently the strategy follows the lead of successful earlier initiatives and aims to build on them.

A major aim of HHS and the National Quality Strategy is to address the leading causes of mortality and communal wellness. The strategy begins by zeroing in on cardiovascular health, which comprises one in three deaths in the U.S. It hopes to promote cardiovascular health by encouraging weight control, exercise and addressing smoking. Based on this initial utilization of the strategy, HHS will then take on other major diseases such as diabetes and cancer. They also hope to lower instances of healthcare-acquired infections, which can cost up to $5 billion per year. HHS has also created a research institute to aid in the development and implementation of future strategy.

Healthcare reform is rolling out piece by piece. As of last week, insurance plans may no longer deny children based on pre-existing conditions or exclude (rider) these pre-existing conditions when offering coverage.

Sounds great, right? Unfortunately, this change created unintended consequences. Children that would have otherwise had coverage in the “old world” are now left unable to obtain health insurance with most of the nation’s carriers. Why?
Insurance companies no longer allow children to apply for individual policies.

Read the rest on this major consequence of reform.