The OBBBA: A New Car with a Hidden Leak
What if one day, the government delivered a brand new car to your driveway? Of course, you’d be pretty excited. The car looks really nice, and comes with some impressive features. But after you take it out for a few drives, you notice the temperature gauge slowly creeping higher and higher. It turns out, the […]
Don’t Ask Hospitals How Much Your Care Will Cost, Ask Your Insurance
Imagine you’re planning a cross-country road trip. You know you’ll hit toll roads along the way, but here’s the catch: every toll booth gives you a different answer about how much you’ll pay in total. Some give you an average, others offer a wide range of options, and some just shrug. You’re told to get […]
Level Up Your Patient Engagement: What Healthcare Can Learn from Video Games and Social Media
What if managing your health was as addictive as your favorite video game or as engaging as scrolling through social media? Imagine a world where your healthcare app celebrated your progress, rewarded your healthy habits and connected you to a supportive community, all with the sleek, intuitive design of the digital platforms you use daily. […]
Striking the Right Cord
Imagine a symphony conductor who spends all their time perfecting the timing of the percussion section. Every beat is flawless, each drum hit is precisely on cue, and the cymbals crash with exacting precision. The conductor becomes an expert in the intricate rhythms and nuances of the percussion instruments, ensuring they never miss a note. […]
Beyond Broken Promises: How to Rebuild Trust in Healthcare
Remember that time when someone broke their promise? Or the time when someone didn’t do what they said they would do? Or that time when someone deceived you into thinking something that wasn’t true? Violations of trust have a way of being sticky in the worst ways. We tend to remember the people and organizations […]
Protecting Your Digital Healthcare Castle
Centuries ago, preventing an enemy from attacking your castle was fairly straightforward. Typically, there were limited methods that opposing forces could breach the walls. Those vulnerabilities could be protected in a fairly straightforward way, by a moat, a drawbridge, or guarded under constant surveillance. But now, we live in a very different world of malware, […]
Connecting Patient Needs with Local Resources: How Social Determinants of Health Enhance Healthcare Outcomes
In an old fable, several blind men approach an elephant. They each touch different parts of the mighty beast and describe their limited perceptions. One grasps the trunk and perceives a snake; another feels the ear and senses a fan. They all make their unique contributions, but none of them grasp the full reality of […]
Digital Health in Rural Communities
Saint Fictional Rural Hospital is located about 40 minutes away from the nearest city, and about 2 hours away from the nearest hospital. As a rural, critical access hospital, the leaders of SFRH knew what it was like to deal with patient access issues, a lack of staff, and budget constraints. After feeling like the […]
Relieving the Burden of Medical Debt
Have you ever had a medical bill you couldn’t pay? If so, you’re not alone. Currently, one out of three Americans can’t pay their medical bills. These individuals are facing wage garnishment, property liens, and bankruptcy. Imagine adding that to the regular stressors of your daily life. Knowing that you could be be financially limited […]
Price Transparency Update Coming in 2022
When it comes to healthcare, the government typically has two options for incentivizing specific actions. They can either provide a carrot, or a stick. In the case of price transparency, the government went with the stick approach, with a penalty of $300 a day for noncompliant hospitals beginning as of 01/01/2021. However, they will be bringing out a bigger stick shortly, with an increase in penalties slated for 2022.