50 results for Health Watch

The Department of Justice believes current state markets are moderately to highly concentrated. Our latest Health Watch survey asked industry experts how payer consolidation could affect health care market dynamics. Governor Mike Leavitt and Douglas Hervey, a Leavitt Partners director, will discuss market trends associated with payer consolidation and the future impact increased consolidation may […]

Leavitt Partners Health Watch Survey is an ongoing effort to take the pulse of the health care industry on various salient topics. Last week, participants learned from ACO expert, Dr. David Muhlestein, as he discussed the ever-growing ACO landscape and its meaningful implications.

Larry Boress, President and CEO of Midwest Business Group on Health, joined Leavitt Partners Health Watch on August 26th to dissect the results from a recently distributed survey of the future of employer sponsored health plans. His insights were remarkable and the recording, slide deck, and survey results are available below.

On September 7, Health Affairs published a DataWatch paper entitled “Physician Consolidation: Rapid Movement From Small To Large Group Practices, 2013–15,” which observes the difference in consolidation patterns between specialists and primary care physicians, as well as between states. Leavitt Partners used data from Medicare Physician Compare to longitudinally examine the change in the proportion […]

Douglas Hervey provided commentary on Leavitt Partners most recent Health Watch survey for a HealthLeaders article entitled “Payer Consolidation Expected to Roll on Over Next Decade.” Douglas provided insight into three main areas: Impact on consumers, factors driving consolidation trend, and how hospital-owned plans increase consumer choice.

This post is a four-part series on state health care innovation efforts. This post will give a broad overview of some of the opportunities available to states that support their efforts in transforming health care payment and delivery systems.  Upcoming posts will discuss each of these opportunities in more detail. The Affordable Care Act (ACA) […]

State health care innovation is accelerating, with many states developing initiatives to further their efforts to improve health care.

Two seismic shifts will transform the American health system: Health insurance exchanges, either public or private, and reimbursement models slowly migrating from fee-for-service.

Building upon Leavitt Partners continuing work around the accountable care landscape, Director of Research David Muhlestein examines how the movement has grown and points to what industry observers should watch for in 2014. The piece takes a look at what factors might affect the growth rate of the ACO movement in 2014, including the forthcoming release of first year results for the early Medicare Shared Savings Plan ACOs, the impact of political changes on both a federal and state level and the importance of consumer preference affecting ACO growth.

Part 1 of this 2 part series, “Health Care Exchanges, What you should know,” will explore new distribution channels being introduced into the market place that facilitate greater consumer access and choice.

In an article that outlines the significant barriers to realizing the potential of personalized medicine, Managed Healthcare Executive sources data from a recent LP Health Watch survey that portrays an increase of patients who use genomic testing when making medical decisions.

Leavitt Partners has launched LP Health Speakers, an experienced and knowledgeable selection of health care visionaries and thought leaders who are available to deliver keynote addresses, moderate and participate in panels, speak at retreats, facilitate strategic discussions and conferences, and brief senior executive teams. The firm is pleased to feature more than a dozen health care […]

Leavitt Partners’ Senior Advisor, David Merritt, discusses implications from probable Supreme Court rulings in his blog featured May 29th on TheHill.com. The Supreme Court has already decided the fate of the health reform law, and in a few short weeks the rest of us will know whether it is upheld, struck down entirely, or badly damaged. Of […]

When the concept of a Health Insurance Exchange was first introduced more than five years ago, no one could have predicted the rollercoaster ride it was about to experience. The concept was first introduced by conservatives and quickly embraced by free-market supporters. Realizing the value an insurance exchange can provide to consumers, it was then […]

We have witnessed the introduction of new technologies that enable people to connect socially in meaningful ways. This virtual social media world has grown exponentially in recent years and the health care sector is no exception. Leavitt Partners believes we are now at the precipice of a new age where social networks will be used […]

On Tuesday, September 12 Governor Mike Leavitt testified before the Senate HELP Committee. During his testimony, he suggested creating a series of model waivers that states could choose from to help speed up the process. “By doing so, the federal government creates national standards but allows states to develop state solutions,” said Leavitt. He further explained, “There could be a set of standard waivers related to risk stabilization programs, redefining marketplace products or benefits, or alternative private exchange portals. This fosters collaboration and investment in the waiver process—as well as to expedite the application process.” Governor Leavitt said that he and Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander discussed the idea before the hearing. “What we’re suggesting here is rather than try to lay out 11 different categories, where everyone is exactly the same, the states have the flexibility to have actuaries determine if their benefit package is of equal value to those essential benefits,” Leavitt said. (Axios article entitled “Senate health care talks focus on state innovation waivers”; USA Today article entitled, “Sen. Lamar Alexander says patient protections will remain intact under short-term Obamacare fix”; The Washington Free Beacon article entitled “Insurers Say States Need More Flexibility to Stabilize Obamacare Marketplace”).

Dual eligibles, individuals enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, are among the highest-need, highest cost patients in the United States. Although it is difficult to determine the exact number of dual eligibles, a 2012 Kaiser Family Foundation report estimates that dual eligibles comprise 21 percent of the Medicare population and 15 percent of the Medicaid […]

On Monday, January 23, U.S. District Judge John Bates issued his highly-anticipated decision regarding the Department of Justice’s anti-trust challenge that blocked the proposed $37 billion- merger between Aetna and Humana. The ruling in favor of the Department of Justice (DOJ) is significant because of the merger’s potential to cause Medicare Advantage disruptions and other […]

PAC represents the next frontier of opportunity for the success of ACOs, BPCI Model 2 participants, and CJR hospitals. In fact, of the ACOs which achieved shared savings, most attribute their success to closer PAC care coordination. Hospitals are narrowing networks, wanting to find the best PAC partners possible, and stronger care pathways and coordination are taking place at unprecedented levels.

The Health Affairs DataWatch article entitled “Physician Consolidation: Rapid Movement From Small To Large Group Practices, 2013–15,” co-authored by David Muhlestein and Nate Smith, was referenced in an American Academy of Family Physicians article entitled “Small Practices Can Prosper in Era of Consolidation.” The article cites the study’s finding that the percent of physicians in […]

Health Affairs releases “Physician Consolidation: Rapid Movement From Small To Large Group Practices, 2013–15,” a DataWatch paper authored by Leavitt Partners researchers that examines the continuing trend of physician consolidation into larger group practices. Salt Lake City, September 8, 2016 — Today, Health Affairs published a DataWatch paper entitled “Physician Consolidation: Rapid Movement From Small To Large Group Practices, 2013–15,” […]

About five years ago our Chairman, Governor Mike Leavitt, approached a small group of us and expressed a desire for Leavitt Partners to architect a model that would predict the pace of America’s change away from a predominantly fee-for-service (FFS) payment system to some other form of loosely defined value reimbursement. Led by Dr. David […]

For three years, the market has been closely watching private health insurance exchanges that aspire to create new value in the group-market health insurance transaction.  A litany of venture entities and private equity outfits have flooded the market with investments under the auspices that technology would disintermediate the traditional insurance purchasing model, introducing new efficiencies and sales opportunities. There is wide and […]

For nearly five years, Leavitt Partners has led the nation in tracking and analyzing the growth and geographic dispersion of Medicare, Medicaid and commercially formed Accountable Care Organizations. Newly released numbers through the Health Affairs Blog note that: 744 ACOs now exist in all 50 states and cover 23.5 million lives 132 different health insurance […]

This past week saw several announcements from some very significant groups regarding the shift toward value-based payment. First, Secretary Burwell announced that HHS would move 30% of its total spending in Medicare to value-based payments by 2016 and 50% by 2018 through models like ACOs and bundled payments. Soon after, a coalition of health care […]

The combination of ACOs and online marketplaces could represent a real win for consumers when shopping for health insurance coverage.

Physician practices have the potential to encourage hospitals to compete on price and quality for the allegiance of physician sponsored ACOs

When fluidity exists in your market — as it does in American healthcare — careful planning and calculated execution will help your organization thrive earlier than later.

How care coordination tools can improve patient satisfaction and outcomes.

Health apps have the potential to engage people in powerful ways, including: enhancing learning and changing health behavior.

Leavitt Partners Chairman and former Secretary of Health and Human Services, Michael Leavitt, describes the transformations that will take place in the insurance market in lieu of the health care reform legislation. Insurance Market Transformation. Watch Here on our YouTube channel

  As a national pastime, baseball is simply amazing. Whether you are an occasional observer or a fanatic, you can track as much as you care to. In the 163 years since the first recorded game, followers of the game have devised ways to measure just about everything that occurs on the field. Special attention […]

She had come to Washington, D.C. to ask for assistance in some specific projects, but our conversation turned a different direction. I asked if she saw evidence that organizations sympathetic to terrorists were using health care as a means of cultivating support among the people, particularly in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA). The FATA […]

The past weekends were full of disaster preparation. In previous blogs, I have talked about the competence of the people who manage disaster response in our country and the substantial increase in our readiness in the three years since Katrina. That point of view has only been enhanced watching them manage emergencies in two successive […]

Written August 12, 2008 I am sitting in the Addis Sheraton feeling a bit disoriented by the contrast of my comfortable room with what I experienced today. I just returned to Addis Ababa, the capital city of Ethiopia, after having traveled to some of the country’s remote areas. How can the comfort of this hotel […]

Written August 12, 2008 Today I will write about a remarkable young woman I met in a remote area of Africa. However, I will first describe the context of our meeting. I asked my friend Tewodrose Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Minister of Health for Ethiopia, to show me the system of Health Extension Workers (HEWs). Our government, […]

About an hour flight west from Anchorage is the community of Bethel. It has a population of around 5,000 people and serves as a transportation and communication hub of the Yukon-Kuskowim river delta area. It is also the headquarters of Yukon Kuskokwim-Health Corporation (YKHC), another Alaska Native tribal health organization. It is similar in character […]

Next month, the world will gather for the 29th Olympiad in Beijing, China. Those who participate and watch these games will be a part of the largest, most extraordinary collaboration of nationhood and humanity that exists in our world today. Three out of every five people on the planet will watch as athletes from 200 […]

FDA recently placed an Import Alert on cantaloupe coming into the United States from Agropecuaria Montelibano, a major Honduran grower and packer. This action was taken after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) determined fruit from the company was associated with outbreaks of Salmonella Litchfield in 16 states. Watching these things unfold is […]

We routinely hold readiness exercises at HHS on various emergency scenarios. Typically, people from various parts of the emergency management community sit around a square table, and a moderator paints a picture of a disaster unfolding. It is like a reader’s theater. As events are described, each actor assumes their part, describing what they are […]

The inauguration of a new president is a major historical milestone for any nation. Inaugurations have attributes that resemble a wedding. The steps leading up to the inaugural are similar. There has been a courting period and proposal from competing suitors, a decision, and then an engagement period or transition as we call it in […]

The National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine is part of the National Institutes of Health. Its role is to explore complementary and alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science. While in Beijing last week, I had experiences that added to my instinct that there is value to be gained in understanding traditional […]

This week in Seattle, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation invited health leaders from around the world to attend a Malaria Forum. The discussions centered on better coordination between nations, NGOs, multi-national organizations, scientists and individuals on our common goals related to malaria. I left the gathering feeling optimistic that a worldwide collaboration can save […]

Last Friday I went to Haiti to observe the remarkable health diplomacy being done by the USNS Comfort, a Navy Hospital Ship President Bush deployed into Latin America. As we flew into Port-au-Prince, the capital city, the Comfort’s white glistening paint stood out beautifully against the coral blue water. The city looked about as it […]

Malaria is a terrible disease that takes the lives of millions needlessly; most of them children under five years old. I heard Vice Admiral Tim Ziemer who heads the President’s Malaria initiative say:”We know where it is; we know what causes it; we know how to prevent it.” The President and Mrs. Bush have serious […]

Watch Leavitt Partners Chairman and former HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt explain the regulatory procedure that health care reform follows after being signed into law. Regulatory Procedure Explained. Watch Here on our YouTube channel

By Dennis G. Smith  As Congress prepared to leave town for the Memorial Day recess, there was still a lot going on in health care. Looking back at last week’s events brings to mind a Will Rogers quip, “I don’t make jokes.  I just watch the government and report the facts.”  With that in mind, here is […]

Utah Technology Council recognizes Gov. Leavitt for leading Utah into the digital age The year was 1993 and Utah had just elected a young governor who understood the power of technology to transform state government, enliven an economy and improve the lives of every Utahan. Ten months after being sworn in, Gov. Leavitt challenged every […]

Leavitt Partners’ first Policy Watch Seminar of 2011 was presented at the Shangri-la Hotel in Guangzhou, China and co-sponsored by the American Chamber of Commerce in South China. The event, held on March 29, 2011, featured Leavitt Partners senior policy experts Dr. David William Kennedy Acheson, Rich McKeown and Dr. Bill Steiger. They led a discussion of new policies and […]