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Center for Health Value Innovation Considers Emerging Trends
ST. PAUL, Minn. & ST. LOUIS-(Business Wire)-July 28, 2008 - During a recent gathering of the board of directors of The Center for Health Value Innovation (www.vbhealth.org), the nation's premier organization dedicated to establishing value and producing evidence for sustainable health and financial improvement, two emerging trends were identified and discussed for their relevance to health improvement and innovation: global health initiatives or medical tourism was presented by Trigram America (www.trigramamerica.com), a recent addition to the Center's Industry Allies, followed by a focus on data security and privacy presented by Crystal IT (www.crystalit.us).
"It's our mission to identify the evidence of health improvement through investment in incentives and innovation by employers and health plans," said Cyndy Nayer, president, noting that the Center will continue to promote these invitation-only conversations and bring the information to the market. "The goal is to improve health status of the populations and reduce health cost inflation through appropriate resource use. To that end, innovators must stay ahead of the curve, consider emerging technologies, and understand how they fit into value-based decisions."
Seven innovators from companies of varying sizes participated in the discussions - from trust funds and health plans to municipalities, and large and small employers. They meet regularly to consider ideas and explore opportunities for application within their companies, discuss challenges of use and acceptance, and anticipated hiccups for coordination.
Trigram America, an educational company helping payers and purchasers make benefits decisions for overseas medical treatment, investigates providers and institutions overseas and reports back to payers on quality, efficiency, continuity of care, and outcomes, assessing the right "fit" for the purchasers. Center innovators considered the presentation and agreed that:
— earliest wins would be in the global employer networks
— reduction in cost would only matter if there were strong standards of quality that mirrored or surpassed those in the US (such as JCI accreditation)
— short term (immediate results) and long term (complications and follow-up care/corrections) will be important to the decisions
— total cost of care, including companion travel, transmission of data, and follow up treatment at home will be critical information for the selling cycle.
The presentation on data security and privacy provided an internal overview to the recent health information security breaches that have been publicized. Crystal IT was developed by a former Marine and Homeland Security expert in data technology, with an interoperable suite of solutions for multi-dimensional security to close what the US Homeland Security Agency calls a national terrorist threat: theft of health information. Again, innovators provided a 360(degree) review of presentation:
— recognition that data security threat is pervasive in current health information systems
— review of more serious breaches in the current structure and impact on liability
— standards for assessment are necessary
— commitment to check with internal IT experts on how security is monitored and guarded
— need for improved technology and security as E-Health initiatives grow and the link to the financial institutions becomes more evident in health management (through health savings accounts, flexible spending accounts, health debit cards and health identity/membership cards).
Ardis Belknap, director of human resources for the City of Springfield, OR, said, "The variety of ways to approach value-based designs continues to impress me. One of the biggest gifts to me made by the Center is that it provokes thought as well as action."
About The Center for Health Value Innovation:
Launched in 2007, The Center for Health Value Innovation is a not-for-profit (501c3) organization representing industry stakeholders committed to sharing the evidence that value-based health designs improve health status and reduce health cost inflation. Visit www.vbhealth.org.
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