Morning Headlines 8/16/13
Investor digital-health darling CareCloud raises another $9M
The additional funding raises the company’s total to $55 million.
Penn State Employees Protest Wellness Effort
A professor’s petition calls for the university’s wellness program to be cancelled, saying employees shouldn’t have to answer health questions and commit to receiving an annual physical exam in order to avoid a $100 per month insurance surcharge. The university says it’s trying to hold down healthcare costs in the face of a projected 13 percent cost increase in the next year alone and voluntary health and wellness programs have drawn minimal participation.
EHR costs outweigh financial benefits, doctors say
An athenahealth physician survey finds that while only 18 percent of them have an unfavorable opinion of EHRs and 68 percent of them say EHRs improve patient care, 51 percent say EHR costs outweigh their benefits. The survey also found that fewer physicians plan to buy an EHR in 2013 since 98 percent of them already have one.
The article stated: Physicians believe electronic health records ***CAN*** improve patient outcomes but feel that EHR costs outweigh any financial benefits they might have, according to the fourth annual Athenahealth Physician Sentiment Index.
It did not state that EHRs do improve care. There is a difference.
Read more: EHR
Re Penn State comments about health surveys and physicals: I think it’s childish to complain about being asked to get a physical and answer health questions to avoid an insurance premium surcharge. What’s the alternative? The rest of us who pay into the insurance pool have to pay for the irresponsibility of those who don’t look after their own health. Bottom line, everyone needs to have some skin in the game. Thanks to health care reform, these folks don’t have to worry about pre-existing conditions, so what’s the problem?