Aquina Blog

A recent Gallup poll - based on more than 45,000 interviews with adults aged 18 and older, from July 1 to Sept. 30, conducted as part of the Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index - indicated the percentage of U.S. adults lacking health insurance rose in the third quarter of 2017 to 12.3%.

The uninsured rate is now the highest recorded since the last quarter of 2014 when it was 12.9%.

This increase in adults without health insurance
represents nearly 3.5 million Americans.

The study suggests several marketplace factors could be a contributing factor. Some insurance companies have stopped offering insurance through the exchanges, and the lack of competition could be driving up the cost of plans for consumers.

As a result, the rising insurance premiums could be compelling some to forgo insurance. The uncertainty about the healthcare law also may be driving the increase.

Some key poll findings include:

• The uninsured rate has risen by 1.8 points among those aged 35 to 64, compared with slightly smaller increases among younger (18 to 34) adults.
• The uninsured rate among black and Hispanic adults has increased by 1.5 and 1.6 points, respectively.
• The percentage of adults with self-paid plans has fallen by 1.3 points, from 21.3% to 20.0%, over this period.

Consulting firm Accenture recently released survey results saying 21% of Americans have already tried some form of virtual care and a whopping 78% are willing to try it.

With the proliferation of smartphones and the rising popularity of in-home voice-activated devices, home care providers are beginning the experiment with using these technologies to provide remote monitoring services for their clients.

Libertana Home Health, a Beverly Hills, a California-based company with 3,000 clients in homes and senior living communities throughout the state, is testing Amazon's Alexa to monitor patient activity.

Using Libertana’s custom Alexa skill, seniors can verbally report medical data such as weight, blood pressure or blood sugar levels, listen to medication and exercise reminders, call for help from a caregiver, coordinate transportation and learn about their scheduled social and recreational activities.

Article by:

Chris Stenglein, Chairman & CEO

Chris Stenglein currently serves as Aquina Health's Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors.  He has been involved with the company since September 2012 and is responsible for the overall vision and strategic direction of the company. During his tenure, Stenglein has led Aquina Health to sustained growth and profitability, establishing Aquina Health as an industry leader in healthcare FinTech.

HEALTHCARE NEWS UPDATE

The latest Republican attempt to repeal Obamacare, which is expected to hit the Senate floor for a vote this week, would keep much of the Obamacare tax structure in place, but it would give the money back to the states in the form of block grants and would allow states to design their own health care systems.

HIMSS released the results of its 2016 Connected Health Survey. The survey is reflective of 227 IT, informatics and clinical professionals in U.S. hospitals and health systems with regard to their organization’s current and future use of connected health technologies.

According to the results, more than half of the health systems surveyed say they're using at least three different types of mHealth technology, and more than half are looking at new platforms.

Providers Are Ready to Embrace Connected Health

Some interesting findings include:

• 52% of hospitals use three or more connected health technologies
• 69% are using a mobile-optimized patient portal
• 47% expect to expand their use of connected health technologies in the next few years

A recent article by McKinsey surveyed more than 11,000 people and uncovered some common misconceptions surrounding health care consumerism. The authors note there are several converging forces likely to make healthcare a more dynamic market.

One of the items explored was patient’s acceptance of using technology.  Due to higher deductibles and copayments, greater transparency into provider performance and costs, and the narrowing of available networks, consumers are embracing new technologies to better manage their healthcare.

Many patients are willing to use technology for health-related activities.

The article showed millennials (those between the ages of 18 and 34) were more likely to report using technology for health care purposes, but a considerable number of the older participants were doing so as well. In all age groups, the top two activities were communicating with doctors and scheduling appointments.

The role of a medical practice administrator goes beyond identifying best practices and finding ways to implement them.

Practice leaders also must identify where practice staff members can benefit from additional education and training so programs can be added and administered to help the organization run optimally.

The Medical Group Management Association polled 931 practice leaders and nearly half (47%) said that staff could use additional practice in customer service.

A survey conducted by NueMD in 2017 of more than 1,000 healthcare professionals measured how knowledgeable healthcare professionals are about The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and what outcomes they expect the new payment model to have on their practice.

The survey revealed both small and large practices don't know a lot about MACRA and many feel uncertain about its potential impact on healthcare.

Key findings include:

• 50% of those surveyed said they are not familiar with MACRA
• 56% are unsure if they are expected to participate in 2017
• 49% have not encountered information on MACRA

When practices were asked to consider MACRA’s effect on their financial well-being over the next three years, the responses were quite eye-opening: