Monday, October 8, 2007

Care Management or Integrated Health

Wall Street Journal Sunday edition had an article by M.P.McQueen on Health Costs.

In essence, large companies like Ford, PepsiCo have contracted with Care Managers to work with employees and workers help manage their medical care, right down to adding services that arrange for doctor's second opinions and suggest specialists and hospitals.

The article claims Care Managment to be the BIG trend in employer-sponsered health sphere.

On the positive side, care mangers use latest techniques like data-mining and reviewing best practices to help patients and reduce cost by recommending less invasive and less expensive procedures and drugs.

On the flip side, patients can easily find care managers to be intrusive. Also, can patients trust care managers hired by employers or in other words, are employers motives purely altruistic?

Interesting article raising very legitimate concerns.

Thoughts?

1 comment:

Jerry Lovrien said...

thanks for the posting. If 31%-34% overhead is assigned to insurance/HMO operations, the question is raised about the need for extended overhead, privacy concerns, and ethics.
It is an entrepreneurial idea though...must give credit for the idea.