North Carolina Health Link Weekly – April 27, 2015
The health care industry is one that begs discussion — it’s personal, it’s social, and it impacts us all. Every week we come across hundreds of articles, tweets, updates, and briefs. We thought you’d like to read some of what we’re seeing right now, and start a conversation. Tune in Fridays for your weekly dose of all things North Carolina health care news related.
Innovation and Trends
Researchers Use Black-Market Drug Website to Gauge Public Health (Boston Globe, 04-17-15)
- On Friday, someone in New Bedford paid a dealer $2 for a 5-milligram hydrocodone pill, a price deemed “cheap” in the busy black market for prescription opioids.
Payers Take a Shine to Personalized Care (mHealthNews, 04-22-15)
- Forget Big Data (well, OK, not really). Payers are taking an interest in drilling down to individual caches of information to help members develop and stay on personalized care plans.
Health Care Technology
As Health Apps Hop On The Apple Watch, Privacy Will Be Key (NPR, 04-25-15)
- One day soon, you may be waiting in line for a coffee, eyeing a pastry, when your smart watch buzzes with a warning.
Insurers Use Fraud Analytics to Stop Unnecessary Payments (TechTarget, 04-22-15)
- Health insurance payments are a huge target of fraud. Every year, payers dole out billions of dollars to fraudulent claims. But insurance companies are increasingly looking to fraud analytics technologies to reduce the problem
Health and Fitness
Small Wellness Initiatives, Big Savings for North Carolina State Health Plan (Fierce Health Payer, 04-17-15)
- Even the simplest of wellness initiatives can reap big savings for payers, representatives of the North Carolina State Health Plan said at the Health Information and Management System Society’s annual conference in Chicago.
Industry News
NC Autism Coverage Bill Has Broad Support; 1 Group Still Out (Charlotte Observer via Associate Press, 04-23-15)
- Insurers in North Carolina would have to cover autism treatment under a legislative compromise that has support from the state’s dominant insurer and some other groups, but a key organization pushing for the mandate has not yet gotten on board.
Medical Errors in America Kill More People Than AIDS or Drug Overdoses. Here’s Why. (Vox.com, 04-22-15)
- Medical errors kill more people than car crashes or new disease outbreaks. They kill more people annually than breast cancer, AIDS, plane crashes, or drug overdoses. Depending which estimate you use, medical errors are either the 3rd or 9th leading cause of death in the United States. Those left dead as a result of their medical care could fill an average-sized Major League Baseball stadium — sometimes twice over.
Video
Impacts of Uncoordinated Care – watch the video.
When your doctors are not working together it causes inefficiencies and frustration—it costs Americans hundreds of billions a year. That’s why we help doctors share information and work together. So you can get the answers you need sooner and save money. See more ways we’re tackling rising health care costs at.
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