Why is US Healthcare Spending Always Increasing?

According to yearly evaluation from the government regulated research group and other worth mentioning survey projects, health expenditure has increased by five percentage point lately. The figures are yet to be validated but apparently health-care expenditure during 2014 would represent the biggest rise since the last formal recession of 2008. The Affordable Care Act, debated in 2010, highlighted some measures to reduce health-care costs, constituting penalties for health-care givers whose patients are retreated after spending a month in a hospital.

The rise in medical care expenditure for 2014 was totally a surprise. Americans in tens of millions have been able to avail health insurance via Affordable Care Act, state funded Medicaid programs, and employment opportunities created by medical institutions. According to economists all of them combined are driving the rise in people being covered by medical care coverage and in turn increasing the spending. The US centre for disease control has anticipated that the rise in spending would somewhat stop in the on-going year, with the aggregate health care expenditure growth of approximately 6 %. Confirmed statistics for last year reconciles with everything regulators, institutions, and professionals have been saying so there remain to doubt to their analysis.

Number of people who availed the recent Obama Care package primarily focused on public servants and other insurance coverage available are said to be the reason for the rise. Drug prices have also been on the rise forcing the people to spend more. Despite the fact that medication constitutes about only 10% of the all states health care bill, expensive new treatments of diseases like hepatitis C and cancer have found a place in the market. A wave of revolutionizing drugs lost patent rights in recent time helping to ease drug costs but phenomenon is not likely to continue in the future. The question arising now is whether a rise in spending is stimulated by rise in drugs only or there are other factors at play. From the healthcare professionals’ standpoint, not only drugs but other factors involved like doctors, hospitals, nursing homes all would play a role in minimizing the spending and easing the burden on end users. In totality, spending is a mixture of how expensive any test and treatment is and cost incurred by institutions in delivering it. Despite the volume of medical care service being delivered is going up as more people are availing health insurance, there are indications that providers are dealing with intense pressure to maintain the prices they charge in control. A rough estimate of price being charged by service provider and regulatory body included in the Consumer Price Index report indicates that hospital rates on the whole reduced when compared with earlier years. Several companies who provide healthcare software solutions have been trying to mitigate the complexities by developing healthcare applications that streamlines the processes involved in healthcare.

To analyse the impact of how medical care cost growth is having an effect on the pocket of a standard US family, researchers gathered data from all the available avenues to project the effects of increasing health care costs on an average-income family of four covered by coverage provided by the company. The data made a contrast of the household health care cost share in 1999 with that in recent times. Many thought provoking findings came out of research. Even though household income was on a rise, the trickle down benefits that they should have accrued were largely offset by growth in health care thus retaining only $95 on monthly basis. If costs traced by the rise in the CPI index had remained stable, an average US family would have had an extra $450 per month that they could have utilized on other things.

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Telemedicine is a method which uses all the advanced digital technologies. Telemedicine has moved way beyond the tele-radiology systems which has been in use over the past many years. Nowadays, telemedicine features a range of applications as well as services using video conference, smartphones, email, wireless tools and various other types of telecommunications technology which help doctors serve remote patients. Many healthcare areas have increasing healthcare expenses or limited accessibility to physicians, to ensure the healthcare service in that region doesn't work at the most effective level. Though, the telemedicine is the solution for the physicians and the patients who want to communicate better and also get better results more simply and efficiently.

There are numerous forms of telemedicine. One simple standard of telemedicine involves those who have access to internet. Lots of patients can easily go to a medical provider's website in order to confirm an appointment. A medical provider can use a camera to interact without any patient's presence or without the need to meet him or her in an office. The telemedicine system could also be used by world renowned physicians who want to contact one another and discuss various treatments. A professional can arrange for one more professional to hear on a patient condition without the need of physical presence in an office.

Telemedicine has many benefits on local, national, or even on international levels. Telemedicine has the ability to gather the very best healthcare professionals in order to resolve a number of world's most complex medical issues. In developing nations, telemedicine helps the medical professionals who have reduces resources and doctors. Specialists who operate in countries having significant medical resources helps less privileged professionals who are in need of help and support for medical diagnoses and the treatments. Telemedicine, currently has helped doctors' to evolve the idea online. This particular care health management solution has helped in saving many lives even at the time of severe conditions, particularly when patients find it hard to get to the hospital timely.

Telemedicine is simply not depending on phone calls. Video conferencing turned out to be an important part of telemedicine. Patients and local healthcare professionals are getting online diagnosis quite easily. Patients are even getting experts' advice and also are getting suggestions and ideas for handling a particular case. These types of technological progress have certainly helped people to receive a wide range of beneficial measures timely. One of the main benefits of this type of care health management services is that it facilitates people to obtain easy accessibility to high level of healthcare services. Telemedicine solutions are mostly excellent for the rural areas, in which advanced healthcare medical facilities are rare to find. Telemedicine, hence, enable people get good medical advice through phone or Internet to further improve on their health. This idea of care health management services has helped millions of US people those are based in villages and are not able to reach advanced healthcare services.

More than 50 percent of U.S. medical centers currently use some sort of telemedicine, growing communication with clinics at remote areas, which consequently provides health access to a lot of people. In addition telemedicine gives a chance for growth of physician practices. Indeed, the American Telemedicine Association (ATA) reports the volume of present networks of telemedicine in the usa are around 200, giving connectivity to above 3,000 sites. Telemedicine can transform nursing homes, prisons, schools, rural health centers and many other institutions which could take advantage of remote healthcare. Not just the telemedicine will significantly save doctors' travel expenses and the amount of time to reach patients, however it will even reduce overall medical or pharmacy expenses by minimizing hospital admissions as well as.

Telemedicine provides doctors and the patients’ enhanced mobility, which indicate that saving both time and the money. Health care professionals even are getting benefit by greater outreach. Numerous studies have always indicated that the standard of healthcare services provided from telemedicine is actually as good as those offered in usual in-person consultations. In certain areas, especially in mental health as well as ICU care, it offers an excellent service, along with better results and the patient satisfaction. Consumers demand telemedicine. The most effective results of telemedicine are seen in the patient, family members and their community. Making use of telemedicine technologies minimizes travel time along with related challenges for the patient. During the last 15 years, one after another study has reported the patient satisfaction and the support for the telemedicine services. These types of services are offering patients the access to the providers which could never be available usually, and additionally health services without having to travel long distances.

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All around the world, remote healthcare services and technology are rapidly growing are becoming highly popular for healthcare organizations. The adoption of the telemedicine services varies in different countries. Although, the U.S. is one of the slowest to understand the extensive and the positive aspects these systems could deliver.

Number of studies have already been carried out in looking into tele-monitoring, many of these studies showing how beneficial remote healthcare can be. Findings have actually featured reduction of readmissions in hospitals by 83%, reducing visits by 66% in home nursing, as well as bringing down the overall costs by over 30%. Additionally, patients and health professionals making use of telehealth technologies have noted greater satisfaction with the treatments. These studies have already been sufficient to encourage various nations, including the United Kingdom, to include remote healthcare in their existing healthcare practices. Even now, the body of evidence encouraging remote medicine as well as its outcomes keeps on growing. Hard data consistently mounting in support of remote healthcare. The huge cost savings can't be overlooked and hardly anything else has proved better to minimize these costs. The advanced communication between physician and patient it facilitates will eventually make the remote medical services and the telemedicine technologies an important part of many healthcare organizations.

Nowadays mobile phones along with tablets are being used for almost every single thing, from keeping track of your bank account to booking a cab, therefore it would only be sensible when health care be associated with this technological growth as well. Many people think that the telemedicine will be the future of health care in the U.S.

Recently, in a trade show at Los Angeles by the American Telemedicine Association (ATA), a telemedicine provider, American Well, announced 'Telehealth 2.0', an extensive set of telemedicine services and products. Included in this are live video visits over the phone and on the web, immediate patient data, also the potential for physicians to check and accept or decline visits to their smartphones. Roy Schoenberg, CEO at American Well, mentioned that telemedicine is just the beginning and they're going to take telehealth which was used as a ease measure for the patients and place it in the hands of doctors.

The rise in popularity of telemedicine is due to the convenience. The new app from American Well for doctors includes integrations with Apple’s biometrics allowing patients health records on the touch of a finger. There is another app from American Well that connects patients with physicians in just 2 minutes. As indicated by Forbes, American Well, physicians eventually conveniently shifting in between their virtual and the physical waiting room patients, a system that will let them see more patients than before. Enabling physicians to handle minor health issues, for example cold and flu in a virtual system could ideally make more space in the real waiting rooms for even more seriously sick patients.

Schoenberg mentioned that other than the flu and cold, telemedicine has the capacity to deal with more complex situations, for instance cancer and heart ailments. Already, American Well has been working with major hospital systems such as Cleveland Clinic and with Massachusetts General are now using American Well technology for treatment of patients. These two organizations have begun to realize that the type of care they could extend will significantly be different if they see you in the home all the time, while you are going through an ongoing treatment, Schoenberg stated. Schoenberg also mentioned that we might soon see a time when services such as American Well can link you not only to some old doctor, but will connect you to your own doctor.

UnitedHealthcare has established collaboration with 3 telemedicine organizations in order to address video-based physician visits as it covers in-person visits. The technology has for many years expected that we will someday get our medical care through video chat, however it was not till in recent times that forward thinking doctors began taking potential of telemedicine seriously. The move from so influential a player within the healthcare industry to the telemedicine certainly is a strong indication however the technology is getting into the mainstream. An American magazine Wired, published in print as well as online editions stated that UnitedHealthcare, WellPoint, Oscar and the several BlueCross BlueSheild plans have implemented telemedicine programs in recent times.

According to Schoenberg around the clock care might take some time to get on, however the United collaboration may help and push those ideas forward.

At Mindfire Solutions, we have been providing custom healthcare software development services to our esteemed clients for more than 11 years now. Our healthcare team can help you with development of custom EMR, HER, PMS and CPOE development to name a few, or we can customize your existing products as per requirements. Please feel free to write to us in case of any custom healthcare needs and we will revert back in one business day. You can also avail our limited period Risk-Free Trial offer.

How are new generation physicians adapting to healthcare industry changes?

Embracing mobile technology in their everyday working life seems to be second nature for the new generation of physicians – especially the ones who have graduated post 2000. It has provided them with the privilege of staying connected with their work outside the medical premises. It has given them the flexibility to access patient charts through their Electronic Health Records (EHRs), use clinical decision support systems, refer online drug information, take relevant notes, check references and do many more things on the move. The biggest benefit has been in terms of the improvement which has happened in terms of provider-patient communication.

With the healthcare norms incentivizing the push towards use of EHRs, mobiles have enabled the young generation of physicians to have a better work-life balance than their older peers. One cannot gainsay the obvious benefit this generation has over the older ones - for having been born in an era in which the use of technology in medicine has been the most pervasive. However, this does not mean that all young physicians are upbeat about their nature of work or life. It is common to hear about the medical school debt being quite a burden for the first few years of their lives. Seems like they have a few more points added to the list. Feedback received from surveys indicates a certain percentage wish they had not taken up this profession. Their concerns include:

• Unhappiness with third-party interference
• Lack of adequate insurance coverage for patients
• Lack of time to adequately educate patients on better health strategies
• Inability to provide quality care to patients amid the demands of a convoluted billing and coding system

Although the ease of adoption is higher, their overall analysis of the healthcare reforms and the push for EHR use also has had mixed feedback. The positives cited are as follows:

• Ability to remotely access patient information
• Improvements in quality of care
• Improvement in their ability to provide guideline-based care and track patients' markers of disease control over time.
• Better provider communication as a result of having everyone on the same EHR system

The main concern however is that EHRs are more expensive than expected, threatening the financial sustainability of their practices. Other negatives shared are :

• Poor usability
• Time-consuming data entry process
• Less time availability for face-to-face patient care
• Degradation of clinical documentation by trying to force it into structured fields
• Information overload, as having more EHR functions--such as reminders, alerts, and messaging capabilities leads to lower professional satisfaction

Amidst all this, one area which has seen a lot of enthusiasm amongst the young generation of physicians in the use of smartphones and apps. Although the debate for how much real value apps bring to the table continues, its use has been on the rise. From using them to attend medical education training online to prescribing them to patients as an alternative to a face-to-face meeting, most of them do not seem to have any hesitation is trying out various available possibilities. Infact there is a strong belief that judicious use of smartphones and apps will result in saving millions of dollars otherwise spent in unnecessary hospital visits and surgery.

As Healthcare industry undergoes major changes, for the better, physicians are also required to develop new skills and acquire new competencies so as to not fall behind expectations. With the push of healthcare financing more towards value-based payments rather than volume based, clinicians will have 3 major objectives.

• Improve quality of care
• Promote greater efficiency in care delivery
• Improve Patient safety

In order to achieve the above, they will be required to better utilize evidence-based practices, work in inter-professional teams and coordinate care across settings which would also include other providers. Hence moving forward, the need of the hour is to have physicians who are excellent in interpersonal and communications skills and an penchant towards collaborating with others to provide cost effective care. On the part of the hospitals, it has become imperative now to invest in the training of their existing staff in order to address the gaps and avoid the risk of becoming redundant. To leverage maximum benefits of healthcare software development, it is highly essential to spend proportionate amount of budget and efforts in training.

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Major Changes in the EHR Landscape

The universal adoption of Electronic Health Records in a Meaningful way is the backbone on which all Healthcare reforms are hinged. Based on figures shared by HHS, incentive payments under the Medicare and Medicaid Meaningful Use programs have reached more than half of all eligible professionals, and 80 percent of eligible hospitals. Expected to be responsible for better healthcare outcomes, it is the implementation which has been the cause of a lot of bane. Apart from the operational changes that are required to be brought in, the whole process takes a lot of financial toll on healthcare setups. There is infact a strong belief which is gaining ground that the net cost outweighs the benefits of using an EHR. The independent physicians rather than the employed physicians are more likely to hold this view. Another complaint held by the physicians’ fraternity is that the EHRs have been built without keeping their requirements in mind. Some physicians have actually gone to the extent to build EHR products to exactly suit their clinical requirements and also to handle the common issues they otherwise face in using the standard products available.

But do physicians actually have the know-how to design EHR Systems? The answer to this question is not a simple one. At the end of the day, EHR systems are used by physicians and so, they are in a position to share the real-time issues which crop up during usage. But because they face issues in say handling certain features or are in the business of providing care it does not automatically qualify them to build new healthcare IT systems for many reasons. For e.g.

• Some of the features which they otherwise find troublesome or, even worse, as stumbling blocks to their normal flow of work might actually be highly essential ones; identified and implemented in the system based on industry based practices.

• It might also so happen that the features have been included to ensure interoperability with other systems for data exchange

• There is a high possibility of the complaints having arisen because of the inconvenience of physicians in adapting to a new workflow more than anything else.

As a solution, some of the physicians have been recommended to go the open source way in which they get in touch with Health IT experts and take their help them to make changes in standard EHR systems to meet their requirements keeping in mind adherence to the Meaningful Use criteria all-throughout.

The market for EHR adoption was $20 billion in 2012 and is expected to grow in the coming 2 years. However, the market of EHRs is likely to undergo some major change this year. Federal push for Meaningful Use led to a race among HealthCare software development vendors to create standard EHR products. They did not initially bother to customize their systems to meet the requirements of individual setups. Over a period of time this approach led to various complaints to the vendors. However, with the focus of the vendors more towards selling their products and reaching out to more clients, severe issues pertaining to implementation, support and specialty features, to name a few, started talking a toll on the performance of healthcare setups . This tolerance has reached a boiling point in 2013 with healthcare setups actively looking to switch over to EHR systems offered by vendors who were willing to address their concerns on an ongoing basis.

For the vendors, the short-term revenue growth was triggered mainly by the Federal stimulus. For a sustained long-term market they will be required to focus their energies on usability and interoperability. A survey done across industry experts reflected that eventually most of the EHR vendors are likely to acquired, merged or thrown out of business ; simply because most of them were targeted at the retail mass. As high cost of implementation independent practices are expected to merge with larger setups i.e. hospitals. This is bound to have an impact on the number of vendors in business. Pressed by deadlines hospitals will be compelled to quickly look out for vendors which provide an integrated platform with stable functionalities to ensure ease of use and interoperability across affiliated physicians. Thus the times ahead auger well for those EHR vendors which provide holistic and easily customizable systems and are quick to resolve issues which their clients face.

We provide Healthcare application development and HealthCare application testing services. If you would like to talk to one of our software testers or one of our certified Healthcare software developers, please get in touch with us at Mindfire Solutions.