Reimbursement

Personal health records could become an important part of the 'meaningful use of IT' provision for federal stimulus funding because they foster better patient engagement through health IT, according to an industry analyst. Since  the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), PHRs have become an important tool for engagement, said Lynne Dunbrack, program director for Health Industry Insights.

Medical Mutual of Ohio began offering Intuit's Quicken Health Expense Tracker with Bill Pay capability to its 1.6 million members in October. While it's too early to track use, the tool's value lies in educating members on their healthcare bills and strengthening network provider relations, as well as the co payer's and market differentiation as an early adopter, said Robert Mau, MMO's vice president of e-business.

The Hudson Health Plan, a nonprofit HMO serving New York's Hudson River Valley, has added more functionality and relaunched its Web site. By taking a short questionnaire, visitors can determine their eligibility for public health insurance and schedule an appointment online to meet with a marketing representative. More than 100 appointments have been made since the site went live in early November, said Georganne Chapin, HHP's president and CEO.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that outlines provisions governing the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, including a proposed definition for the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has issued a notice of proposed rulemaking that outlines provisions governing the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, including a proposed definition for the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology.

National health plans Aetna and Wellpoint are the first to earn certification for electronically exchanging administrative data using the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare's Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange (CORE) Phase II rules

CDPHP, a not-for-profit health insurer in New York, has deployed new software to help reduce costs and boost quality.

The healthcare reform bill is far from settled, but its current state is placing great emphasis on how benefit products are designed, according to an industry analyst. While legislation is a moving target, payers need tools that will serve both consumers and their employer groups, said Janice Young, research director for Health Industry Insights. ChoiceLinx, a wholly owned subsidiary of Cigna with two primary product lines, is gaining traction in this market.

With the group-based market continuing its decline, payers are turning their attention to the growing individual plan market. In order to capture that business and engage consumers, payers need to build a direct-to-consumer online capability, which is cost-efficient and can be implemented fairly quickly, said Nancy Sansom, spokeswoman for Benefitfocus.

Historically, payers aggregated data for actuarial purposes or for their sponsoring employer groups' use. Today, data is in greater demand across the industry. The demand for sharing data with providers and members is creating a big shift in data warehousing, said Dane Iverson, vice president of information management for WellPoint.