Roji Intel Blog

Theresa Hush 0
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ACOsConsumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareNarrow NetworksValue-Based Health Care
October 30, 2019

Is Patient Lock-In the Next Step in Value-Based Care?

Hoping to safeguard survival under financial risk, health care providers are courting a contentious issue: how patients select primary providers. During the HMO heyday , health care risk economics depended on patient selection of primary providers as part of coverage selection that “locked” them into those PCPs and their referral networks. PCPs operated as gatekeepers to the rest of the health care system, authorizing services (or not) for specialists and other care. It’s well known that the HMO’s Primary Care gatekeeper model generated a backlash among private sector consumers. In fact, the gatekeeper was so unpopular with patients that it…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health Care
October 16, 2019

The Hedge Bet for Risk is Patient Experience

Creating a good Patient Experience in health care has gained little traction, despite being touted as one of the Triple Aim’s key goals in Value-Based Health Care. Health systems have been more focused on how to increase patients via health plan negotiations and consolidating regional providers, rather than focusing on the slower paced process of improving customer appeal. But now Patient Experience appears to be gaining some attention, and some forward-thinking providers are innovating to be more attractive to patients. Why? Because in the fiscal landscape of Risk, growing patient volume is essential. Providers are beginning to realize that there…
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Evelyn Herwitz 0
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Future of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
June 19, 2019

Roji News Roundup: Industry Insights from CEO Theresa Hush

From women’s health care to the future of the Affordable Care Act, Roji Health Intelligence CEO Terry Hush has shared her insights with numerous industry publications in recent months. Here’s a sampling of current articles: Value-based arrangements in ASCs — 3 quotes from an industry CEO Becker’s ASC Review | June 11, 2019 Terry’s predictions, based on 25 years of industry experience, for what to expect for the future of risk-based agreements. Hint: Episodes of care and bundled payments will become increasingly important. The Future of Healthcare: “Make tools available for women so that they can have a real voice…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
June 12, 2019

Get the eBook “Not Second Best: Inject Value in Women’s Health Care”

Six months ago, I started writing about women’s health, in response to this simple question: What trends are emerging in health care for 2019? The New Year is filled with predictions about what is coming, and I thought this year’s list from health care leaders was too “last-year.” Artificial intelligence, medical science advancements in biologicals and genetic therapies, and business consolidation are not coming; they are already here and will simply go further. Witnessing the debate about health care rights in the country, and the increasing distrust of health care by consumers, I observed that most of those speaking are…
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Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CarePopulation HealthResearch
May 29, 2019

Here’s One Way to Do Better Science

Clinical research with randomized trials (RTs), as opposed to basic or bench research, is the science of comparison. RTs ask a fundamental question: Is “x” better than “y”? They do more than observe how treatments work; they also require methods that control the research environment. Finding an independent contribution of one action over another demands random, stratified populations in order to find truthful differences, as medical care advances on these differences. But the way that patients are typically recruited for RTs can undercut the validity of the study’s findings. I propose we take a different approach, one I call “Gallup…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
May 15, 2019

How Providers Must Improve Value in Women’s Health

Writing the Roji Health Intelligence® series on gender disparities and other women’s health issues has been a revelation. As a woman who has worked in so many parts of the health care industry, I was already aware of basic gender disparities, risk levels, incidence of disease, and economic issues that are predominant among women. Most women in health care have had their knowledge and judgment doubted as both patients and professionals. Women everywhere encounter the economic barriers associated with affordable health care, some much worse than others, and every woman who is a mother struggles with balancing the interests of…
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Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingResearch
April 24, 2019

If Not Now, It’s Too Late: More Clinical Science Pitfalls and a Path to Improvement

Let’s review three major vulnerabilities with how randomized trials (RTs) are conducted, as discussed so far in this series. Critically appraising a research study involves determining the “internal and external” validity. Internal validity deals with the conduct of the study, per se. External validity deals with whether the study’s findings can be generalized to others in the population. Here’s what can go wrong: Populations being studied in RTs are too often convenience samples of patients/subjects rather than random or systematic samples of subjects. This diminishes our ability to externalize findings from the RT to the population at large. This is…
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Theresa Hush 0
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Future of Health CareValue-Based Health CareWomen and Health Care
April 11, 2019

When Women Call Out Medical Gaslighting, Providers Lose the Whole Family

A smart business would not deliberately blame customers for needing their services or accuse them of spinning fictions. A business dependent on customer loyalty and engagement for their success—and what business doesn’t?—would normally pay close attention to customer concerns in social and mainstream media. All the more so in health care, where the needs are generally much more significant, and the consequences of failing the patient are literally a matter of life or death. That’s why providers In Value-Based Health Care should pay close attention to the increasing din of “medical gaslighting” charges by women. These are not idle accusations.…
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Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Future of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingResearch
March 6, 2019

If Not Now, It’s Too Late: Clinical Science Is Futile If We Study the Wrong Population

In 1936, the Literary Digest, a respected national magazine, undertook a public opinion poll. Who would win the race between Republican Alfred Landon, governor of Kansas, and Democratic incumbent Franklin D. Roosevelt? Mock ballots were mailed to 10 million Americans. About 2.4 million responded—one of the largest survey samples ever created. Their prediction? Landon would carry the day. They were wrong—by a landslide for FDR. That’s because respondents were biased toward Landon and did not accurately represent the distribution of presidential preferences across all voters. Notably, George Gallop accurately predicted FDR’s victory using a smaller representative sample of about 50,000…
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Robert McNutt, M.D. 0
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Consumers & PatientsFuture of Health CareMedical Decision-MakingResearch
February 13, 2019

If Not Now, It’s Too Late: Clinical Science Needs Fixing

In 1967, the year I graduated from high school, my family’s television required “rabbit ear” antennae with perched aluminum foil. Our farming family had little time to watch TV, but when we did, the ritual included a side trip to reset the antennae’s angle to ensure good reception. Today, I watch a clear picture on myriad devices, no antennae needed. In the 1980s, my trips to a library to find medical literature were few. A single trip to the library would take hours and net only a small number of papers. Now, I obtain articles on any topic in a…
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