175 companies commit to Bush transparency plan
Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt announced in January that 175 companies – up from 100 in December – have pledged to abide by President Bush’s transparency plan for advancing value-driven healthcare in the U.S. The announcement came at a luncheon sponsored by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the Partnership for Prevention. Among the 175 companies are some of the largest in the country, representing purchasers of healthcare for 72 million Americans, Leavitt said. The transparency initiative is part of the administration’s plan to create value-driven healthcare, enabling consumers to choose providers based on information about the quality and care they provide.
Publicly traded hospitals feel winter’s chill
December proved a cool month for some publicly traded healthcare providers. Analysts were generally bearish on the prospects of companies like Triad Hospitals and Tenet Health, thanks to declining margins, reimbursement uncertainties and debt. Prudential Financial analyst David Shove moved Triad into the “underweight” category in December, citing declining margins and slow development of new facilities. Tenet spent much of 2006 selling seven hospitals and is negotiating with potential bidders for six more hospitals. Overall, 2007 could find healthcare stocks in the rise. In the Dec. 25, 2006 issue of Barron’s, experts said investing in healthcare would be a safe bet.
Will 2007 turn out to be the “Year of the smart card?”
2007 may be the year that all-in-one “smart” cards, designed to automate the payment process, grab the spotlight. Such cards promise to eliminate the revenue cycle management woes of healthcare providers, slash much of the manual claims verification for payers and simplify the medical financial management for consumers, said Randy Vanderhoof, executive director of the SmartCard Alliance. Given the burgeoning popularity of flexible savings accounts, health reimbursement accounts, medical spending accounts and health savings accounts, new consumer-directed healthcare plans and the multiplicity of benefits attached to standard products, conforming to IRS auto-substantiation rules will be complex. Cards also will have to facilitate eligibility verification, conformity with a range of benefit levels, oftentimes among multiple payers, and actually draw down from HSAs or other consumer accounts.