6 Focus Areas for Improving Clinical Outcomes

Today's blog features the Express Scripts blog that highlights six different examples of how actionable data partnered with clinical expertise serves clients and patients by improving clinical outcomes while lowering costs. Over the course of the past month Express Scripts published various different articles that all touched on this same point.

Interested in learning more? Find all of the articles HERE!

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. 

'Skinny' Health Plans Confuse Consumers

Consumers in today's health care market are constantly having to cope with the high cost of health insurance. The new plans that claim to be lower-cost alternatives to the ACA are catching the eye of these consumers, but experts and regulators are warning consumers to be cautious, as they may not be legitimate plans.

Julie Appleby writes, "Legal and policy experts have raised concerns that the new plans could leave buyers incorrectly thinking they are exempt from paying a penalty for not having coverage. Additionally, they say, plans sold to individuals must be state-licensed — and one regulator has already asked for an investigation." 

Read the full NBC News article HERE!

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV, please visit our website at https://horizonhealthventures.com/

2017 Forbes Healthcare Summit

The Forbes Healthcare Summit is coming up and they're planning on covering a wide variety of topics. They plan to ask meaningful questions including, What is the meaning of value? How do we deal with the opioid crisis? And are there areas where new technology could save us? Similar questions that we ask ourselves everyday at HORIZON.

If you're interested in attending the Summit in New York, please click the link HERE!

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV and their services, please visit http://horizonhealthventures.com/      

Bill Gates Determined to Wipe Out Alzheimer's

Today's blog features the major headline regarding Bill Gates' recent announcement that the mogul is investing $50 million dollars of his own money to go towards the Dementia Discovery Fund, a two-year-old private venture fund focused on drug discovery in Alzheimer’s and other age-related brain disorders. 

Gates proclaims, "I know how awful it is to watch people you love struggle as the disease robs them of their mental capacity, and there is nothing you can do about it,” Gates wrote. “It feels a lot like you’re experiencing a gradual death of the person that you knew."

We love seeing stories like this in healthcare news. To read the full Forbes article, please click HERE! 

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV and their services, please visit http://horizonhealthventures.com/      

Healthcare Prices, Quality Information Remain Elusive In Most States

Today's blog features the Forbes article that recognizes the movement to require healthcare prices to be made public and inform patients about quality. A new report shows that this movement is virtually going no where in most U.S. states.

"We continue to find that most states miss the mark in providing consumers with usable price and quality information," Altarum's Center for Value in Healthcare director Francois de Brantes said.

Maine was the only state to score above an "F" in both price and quality information. This means that consumers in 49 out of the 50 states are basically completely in the dark when it comes to making value-based healthcare decisions.

Learn more on this topic HERE!

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV and their services, please visit http://horizonhealthventures.com/      

Integrated PBM Model Could Pose a Threat to Hospitals

Today's blog features the most recent article out of Modern Healthcare that highlights the news that high-cost hospitals could end up holding the short end of the stick if the new proposed PBM model takes hold.

Alex Kacik writes, "CVS Health's rumored Aetna takeover bid, tallying $66 billion, could harness 9,700-plus retail stores and more than 1,100 walk-in Minute Clinic locations to funnel patients through lower-cost settings and deliver more comprehensive care by leveraging big data."

Check out the full article HERE!


HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV and their services, please visit http://horizonhealthventures.com/      

Using Data to Make Your Next Benefit Decision

Today's blog features the Express Scripts article that is delivering actionable insights to clinicians and patients to help future costs and lower health risks.

Express Scripts writes, "By 2020, 83% of employers will offer a consumer-directed health plan (CDHPs). These plans are characterized by cost sharing between employer and member, where high deductibles and out of pocket limits are the tradeoff for lower premiums and tax benefits." 

Pharmacy data is often the best predictor of a patient's health. To understand its depth, data scientists describe big data through the five V's: variety, velocity, variability, volume and veracity. 

Learn more about each of these categories in detail by reading the full article HERE! 

HORIZON Health Ventures is a healthcare cost management solutions company used by insurance brokers, employee benefit consultants, third-party administrators, insurance companies, and associations, to bring proven thought leadership and strategy to the management of their clients healthcare costs. To learn more about HHV and their services, please visit http://horizonhealthventures.com/