Interviews

When employers only offer high-deductible health plans, they reduce costs by reducing utilization. However, consumers reduce their use of essential as well as nonessential services, which is sub-optimal for their long-term health, explained Niteesh Choudhry, MD, PhD, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School.

The newly proposed Medicare Part B payment demonstration met immediate criticism from some in the healthcare industry. Chip Kahn, president and CEO of the Federation of American Hospitals, is also very hesitant about the demonstration and worries that it might be premature.

Improved health technologies will help physicians better monitor patients with chronic conditions so that those patients can receive more effective care and will help build a bridge between what has been reported as effective in literature and applying it to the patient, explained Lonny Reisman, MD, founder and CEO of HealthReveal.

The idea to let Medicare negotiate drug prices has been kicked around for years, but a number of forces have prevented any legislation from being passed, explained Tricia Neuman, ScD, director of the Kaiser Family Foundation's Program on Medicare Policy and the Project on Medicare's Future.

Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, vice president of Connected Health at Partners HealthCare, stresses the importance of medical leadership in promoting mHealth and telemedicine in order to get physicians comfortable with these new technologies.

The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER) created a new drug assessment program with the goal of changing how drugs are priced and evaluated, according to Steven Pearson, MD, MSc, FRCP, founder and president of ICER.

Sister Patricia Codey, SC, Esq., president of the Catholic HealthCare Partnership of New Jersey, discusses legislation in New Jersey that could change the way tiered health plans are created.

Health plans are complex and in order to help members better understand their plans, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts is offering more tools from start to finish and obtaining more member input, said Robin Wright King, MBA, director of CDH Product Management at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts.

Health technology innovations are transforming the way healthcare is being delivered, but there remain a variety of barriers when it comes to sharing data, said Eric C. Schneider, MD, MSc, senior vice president for policy and research at The Commonwealth Fund.

Starting at the very top, with boards and management is one way that healthcare institutions can better diversify their workforce, and doing so will make health equity achievable, said Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Research advocate Jack Whelan discusses patient involvement in their own care: how to discern which sources are the most reliable, the importance of better incorporating patient-reported outcomes into healthcare, and how patients should become more educated about their care.

There are multiple barriers to accessing innovative oncology care from the design of healthcare benefits to a patient’s position on the federal poverty level, explained Daniel J. Klein, president and CEO of the Patient Access Network (PAN) Foundation.

Payment reform in the US is progressing considerably, but more transparency is necessary in order to change payment for the better in the United States, said Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of the Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement.

When patients select their care delivery sites based solely on price, they may misjudge their options, said Chet Burrell, president and CEO of CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield.

Patients with mental illness can be a very difficult population to treat and programs need to be established that properly meet the health needs of these patients, said Dana Goldman, PhD.

Being transparent is important for pharmacy benefit managers in order to know what the criteria are for coverage, said Glenn D. Stettin, MD.

Robert Nesse, MD, the senior director of Policy and Payment Reform at Mayo Clinic, discussed the impact of healthcare consolidation for consumers, whether or not they are aware of it, and how the government will respond to this consolidation.

Employers can encounter complications with benefit design approaches when it comes to those patients for whom traditional, less-expensive drugs are ineffective, or for those who prefer to have the drugs administered differently, explained Cheryl Larson, BA, vice president of the Midwest Business Group on Health.

How beWellnm, New Mexico's state-based insurance exchange, has defined its role and how it is helping individuals since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, according to Amy Dowd, CEO of beWellnm.

What New Orleans has done to improve its public health and what "Culture of Health" means to the city, according to Charlotte Parent, director of health of the New Orleans Health Department.

Sarah Lueck, senior policy analyst from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, recommends increased transparency of healthcare consolidation, and more research on its impacts, particularly regarding benefits for consumers.

There are 2 dimensions to patient centeredness of diabetes care that Lonny Reisman, MD, the founder and chief executive officer of HealthReveal, will focus on during his keynote speech at Patient-Centered Diabetes Care 2016.

Patrick Conway, MD, explains why CMS looked toward value-based insurance design for Medicare Advantage plans.

A lack of diversity among healthcare providers can adverse effects for the communities they serve, explained Georges Benjamin, MD, executive director of the American Public Health Association.

Julia Adler-Milstein, PhD, explains the importance of technology as a supporting factor in healthcare delivery, saying that it will enable patients to access their data and become more involved in their healthcare.

Howard C. Springer, the administrative director of strategy for accountable care services for Swedish Medical Center in Seattle, explained that the benefit he got out of attending one of the past ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition live meetings was the knowledge from people who have been in the business for a while.

The Network for Regional Healthcare Improvement (NRHI) has been leading a project to measure and report on total cost of care across different regions, and the end result could inform payment change, care delivery design, and health policy, explained Elizabeth Mitchell, president and CEO of NRHI.

The healthcare industry is undergoing payment reform, which includes important initiatives like addressing social determinants of health, but may not be keeping the patient perspective central as these changes are made, Lewis Sandy, MD, senior vice president of Clinical Advancement at UnitedHealth Group, said at the AcademyHealth National Health Policy Conference.