Tuesday Tidbits

The Federal Times offers a report on OPM Director Pon's speech to the NARFE conference given yesterday.  The Director described three priorities "mov[ing] paper-based systems to a digital format, moderniz[ing] the civil service, and creat[ing] an environment where people speak out to thank federal employees for their service to the nation."

Health Payer Intelligence tells us that payers are finding savings in value based coverage, e.g., accountable care organization, bundled payments, and patient centered medical homes.  For example, "[t]he BlueCross BlueShield Association’s network of ACOs and PCMHs, called the Total Care Network, reduced care costs by 32 percent during the first half of 2018," and [t]he total care costs of Humana’s value-based care programs were 15 percent less than the costs of its fee-for-service payment model." Impressive.

Forbes reports that bricks and mortar pharmacies like CVS Health and Walgreeens are trying to use face to face contact with customers as an advantage over Amazon. "Walgreens is testing myriad partnerships and this summer launched a digital marketplace that links its customers to medical care providers and their prices beyond services inside the drugstores. And CVS Health is touting its relationships with medical care providers and the potential to add more services once its acquisition of the health insurance giant Aetna is completed in the coming weeks."

Health IT Security provides an update on the use of blockchain technology in healthcare.  The update is based on a recent Deloitte survey. "Healthcare organizations believe blockchain will significantly improve visibility of value-based care payments and reduce fraud, waste, and abuse. Enterprises are also optimistic that blockchain will enhance industry collaboration and efficiency through increased data sharing." Indeed

“The only real mistake we believe organizations can make regarding blockchain right now is to do nothing,” the Deloitte report concluded.  “Even without a completely solid business case to implement, we believe that organizations should, at the very least, keep an eye on blockchain so that they can take advantage of opportunities when they present themselves.”

Speaking of surveys, Kaiser offers an interesting analysis of out of network claims in large employer health plans. Quality improvement committees take note!