The last major effort at healthcare reform 15 years ago failed because of nervous consumers. TV ads featuring Harry and Louise, the fictional middle-class couple poring over President Clinton's plan for universal coverage, became symbolic of widespread resistance to the perceived heavy hand of nanny government, trying to force one size to fit all. Now, with exorbitant costs being the overriding concern, consumers—who drive those costs—may well be the system's best hope for reform. They're motivated: As the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation just reported, the amount people pay for health insurance alone increased 30 percent between 2001 and 2005, while income went up a mere 3 percent. more»

Consumer-focused Care spoke with Kenneth Mayes, Marketing Director for Bumrungrad International, a leading player in medical travel/ medical tourism in Southeast Asia, as a world class, JCAHO accredited (the American hospital accrediting organization) facility. more»

James Roosevelt Jr., CEO, Tufts Health Plan, said “34% of adults in America are overweight and an additional 32% are obese. Obesity and the number of severely obese individuals in our country cost the U.S. economy in excess of $100 billion annually and results in 400,000 deaths”. He made his remarks at the 5th Annual World Health Care Congress held in April in Washington D.C. more»

Imagine a Health Care system that functioned like the consumer credit industry. Scott Kornhauser has. The CEO of Healthation thinks the system will ultimately deliver a personal health care score (like a credit FICO score) that drives what consumers pay for healthcare, complete with the ability to improve their rating over time with the right behaviors/performance. more»

Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt knows in nine months his term will expire, but that doesn't mean HHS will slow down in advocating initiatives for value based health care.

"The value of care should replace the volume of care as the most important variable in the way we pay for and consume health care in this country," Leavitt told attendees last week at the 5th annual World Health Care Congress. more»

Before a whole week passes, I need to capture my interview with Gene Drabinski from Trizetto. Gene is the President of Cost and Quality of Care. This was a fun interview where we just kicked back at the end of day two at the World Healthcare Congress and talked. more»

Obesity and tobacco use are the “big dogs” of escalating health care costs that pose “a significant long-term threat to American business,” says Scotts Miracle-Gro Chairman and CEO James Hagedorn, and the company is taking aggressive, dramatic steps to shoo them away. more»

It’s amazing to me that a company that hasn’t launched yet has been at two conferences with standing room only (in the hallway), but that is the story for American Well. At both Health 2.0 and at the WHCC 2008, the crowds packed in to hear Dr. Roy Schoenberg (CEO and founder) speak. Fortunately, I had scheduled a meeting with him offline so I got to spend an hour talking with him about what they are up to. more»

Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt said HHS has no intention of slacking off in its efforts to drive transparency into the U.S. healthcare system during the winding down of the Bush Administration.

At the Fifth Annual World Health Care Congress, held Wednesday in Washington, D.C., Leavitt said in his 272 days left as HHS secretary he has "a continued sense of urgency" and plans on picking up the pace to drive much-needed change. more»

At the fifth annual World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt said his agency will continue to drive efforts to increase health information transparency and health IT adoption during the final months of the Bush administration, Healthcare IT News reports. more»

HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt on Wednesday urged his successor to continue with the Bush administration's "four cornerstones" initiative that promotes collaborative efforts to improve the national health care system and reduce costs, CQ HealthBeat reports. more»

We're talking a lot about money and business models that work here at WHCC. We're all looking for ways to implement consumer-centric care - how will a primary focus on the patient become embodied in our healthcare system? more»

The secretary of the Health and Human Services Department urged his successor Wednesday to continue the department’s work toward a value-driven health care system he said would help lower costs and improve care. more»

The fifth edition of the World Health Care Congress (WHCC) in Washington brings together more than 2,000 CEOs, senior executives and government officials from the nation's largest employers, hospitals, health systems, health plans, pharmaceutical and biotech companies, and government agencies. more»

The presidential debate on health care with this election is the most sophisticated, well-informed discussion we have every had on the national agenda in America" George Halvorson, chairman and CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plans and Hospitals, told attendees yesterday at the fifth annual World Health Care Congress. more»

Michael Leavitt, Secretary, Department of Health and Human Services spoke at the April 23 session of the World Health Care Congress on the topic of the value driven health care system.

He noted a study from Harvard has just been released showing that life expectancy is decreasing. This gives greater urgency to the topic of reform. Health care must change and while it may take a decade, the success or failure of pulling this off may define the success of this generation. more»

WASHINGTON, D.C. (APRIL 23, 2008) -- A social-based retirement living environment – when coupled with on-site medical centers, electronic medical records, wellness and fitness programs, and a Medicare-approved health plan – will result in cost effective health care that improves outcomes and increases patient satisfaction. That is the finding of an Erickson Health White Paper entitled “The High cost of Health Care for Seniors: Challenges and Solutions” presented this week at the World Health Care Congress in Washington, D.C. that was attended by more than 2,000 of the nation’s top health care leaders. more»

WASHINGTON - (Business Wire) OptumHealth reported from the World Health Care Congress today that 87 percent of consumers surveyed after participating in the company’s new Decision Support program said they received “meaningful, understandable information” to help them make health care decisions. Ninety-six percent said they were satisfied with the help they received. more»

After hearing Grant Harrison (VP, Integrated Consumer Experience) speak a few times on stage yesterday about his role at Humana, I was glad that I had time booked with him to learn more about what he does. I found it to be a very interesting discussion. Grant works in the Innovation group at Humana, and he brings a background which includes Virgin HealthMiles where I believe he was one of the founders and time at Tesco and SkyTV (among other consumer facing experiences). more»