In today’s episode of the LogicStreaming Podcast, host Patrick Yoder, CEO and co-founder of LogicStream Health, talks with healthcare visionary Don Wegmiller, Chairman of the Scottsdale Institute and Chairman and CEO of C-Suite Resources, about what’s trending in 2018 on the frontlines of healthcare.
The conversation began with perspective about the recent announcement of major U.S. companies planning to enter and reinvent the healthcare space – and what it could mean for the industry. Both leaders agreed that while it’s too soon to predict specifics, the healthcare industry can benefit from external perspective from those with deep expertise in applying process and standardization to control costs and increase efficiencies.
As Don explained, controlling the cost of healthcare is a major challenge that needs to be addressed, but it’s just the tip of a very complicated iceberg. The discussion expanded to cover several significant trends affecting healthcare, including:
- Healthcare implications of the new U.S. tax reform legislation
- Healthcare industry consolidation
- Hospital system finances
- How healthcare is delivered
- C-suite perspective on the value of harnessing EHR data to drive clinical process improvement
Despite its “tax reform” moniker, the recently passed legislation will have a major impact on healthcare. The elimination of the individual mandate, according to the Congressional Budget Office’s estimate, means that 13 million people will lose health coverage, transferring the burden of cost for their unpaid care to hospitals, doctors, nursing homes, urgent care centers and other providers. Deep cuts to Medicare funding deliver another financial blow, as do changes in capital financing rules. Reductions in funding for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention also will have negative consequences.
Don and Patrick also discussed other key trends, including the changing healthcare landscape and escalating trend of health system consolidation, the negative impact of Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement levels on the healthcare industry’s financial outlook and assessment by key ratings agencies, and the need for society-wide discussions about how we pay for healthcare – as well as where and how it should be delivered to control costs and standardize care.
The wide-ranging discussion concludes with insights on the need to drive cultural changes necessary to embrace standardization and the varying C-suite perspectives on the value of visibility into the processes driving delivery of care.
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