New Report Addresses Healthcare Transformation And Consumerism Strategies

Presidential Candidate, Executives from Mayo Clinic and other Top Healthcare Organizations Discuss How Consumerism Will Transform the Sector

Consumers are emerging as new "power players" in the healthcare arena, exerting greater influence over the design of health plans, the delivery of care, and health promotion activities than ever before. 

That's among the conclusions from a series of interviews conducted by the Healthcare Performance Management Institute with Republican presidential candidate Dr. Ben Carson and top healthcare executives from the likes of the Mayo Clinic and insurer Anthem. 

"For the first time, millions of Americans are shopping for health insurance just like they do for other goods and services," said Dr. Bob Karch, executive director of HPMI. "Consumers increasingly expect to have a more productive and responsive relationship with their healthcare providers. Employers, insurers, and other participants in the marketplace must change their approaches accordingly." 

HPMI has distilled its findings from the interview series into a new white paper. In addition to Carson, the interviewees included the Mayo Clinic's Jennifer Flynn, Anthem's Dan Newton, health technology entrepreneur Henry Cha, and Chuck Reynolds, an executive with benefits research consultancy Benfield, a division of Gallagher Benefit services. 

Insight from the five experts revealed four strategic imperatives for driving healthcare value: the importance of engaging the consumer; leveraging data to improve care and patient health; the need for new partnerships among employers, insurers, providers, and other healthcare actors; and the centrality of incentives to achieving and sustaining healthy outcomes. 

"Progressive healthcare organizations recognize that we are moving beyond traditional risk management to new models that interact more directly and proactively with consumers," said Dennis Hansen, the founder of Health Synergy Solutions and an HPMI board member. "These models will be supported by tools and incentives that will facilitate our nation's move towards embracing a culture of health." 

To download a copy of the paper, please click here (http://www.hpminstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/healthcare-consumerism_white-paper.pdf). 

About The HPMI
The Healthcare Performance Management Institute (HPMI) is a research and education organization dedicated to promoting the use of business technology and management principles that deliver better and more cost-effective healthcare benefits for healthcare organizations, employers and government entities.