A Shot in the Arm

"Treat" patients with Big Data insights

Alice Swearingen — Tue, 14 Feb 2012 20:58:50 +0000

In today’s retail age of deep customer insights, targeted customer communications, and honoring customer preference in nearly every market segment, why doesn't the healthcare value chain treat patients the same big data insights? Is it the fear of violating patient privacy or HIPPA? That is a valid concern, yet are [...]

Consumer-friendly predictive analytics are the key to making CDHPs work

Alice Swearingen — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 13:39:30 +0000

The new year, filled with New Year's resolutions and rolling your accumulated out of pocket health care expenses back to zero. In fourth quarter last year, most employees renewed their current employer provided health plan coverage options without question. But for some, they were learning about new coverage plans – perhaps an increase in their out-of-pocket share- be it premiums or [...]

Advanced analytics in commercial life science, the rewards offset the risks

Alice Swearingen — Fri, 20 Jan 2012 19:48:24 +0000

Over the past ten years managed markets organizations have developed their own analytical capabilities to evaluate membership, portfolio and health coverage offerings. The results from these analytical exercises drive annual benefit option refinements. For life science organizations, product coverage at play during managed markets negotiations include tier placement, copay thresholds, and utilization management techniques. [...]

Nurse practitioners and physicians assistants - untapped opportunity for health care and life science companies

Brad Sitler — Fri, 23 Dec 2011 16:53:11 +0000

National health care reform will create coverage for an estimated 30 million additional consumers in 2014. These consumers will inevitably be seeing a primary care physician on a more frequent basis than they are today. The question is how our healthcare system will engage with this many new patients as the wait for an appointment with [...]

Disease management programs – Receive help from 'big data' and analytics

Brad Sitler — Thu, 22 Dec 2011 18:43:56 +0000

Previous disease management programs have not delivered the results that our healthcare system anticipated or needed. Big Data, advanced analytics and a new healthcare ecosystem collectively have the potential to make this time around different for disease management programs for a host of reasons. First, there are multiple stakeholders focused [...]

Disease management programs - A time to revisit

Brad Sitler — Fri, 02 Dec 2011 14:32:02 +0000

The Pharma industry landscape has changed dramatically over the last 5+ years. Consider the patent cliff underway; a weak R&D pipeline for blockbuster drugs; spiraling costs on multiple fronts including R&D and managed market rebates; increasing regulatory scrutiny across sales and marketing, and last but not least healthcare reform. Healthcare reform is the item on this [...]

Are your Account Managers equipped for the new healthcare?

Alice Swearingen — Wed, 30 Nov 2011 16:00:37 +0000

I love watching college football! There is the ceremony and the rituals- both on and off the field. The mascots, a beautiful Fall day, and the pre-game jitters all lead to the big event. There is so much more to the game than just the 60 minutes on the field. [...]

Innovation can get you noticed

Alice Swearingen — Mon, 24 Oct 2011 16:58:10 +0000

Innovation can grab your attention- the length of attention varies by the audience, the level of interest, and the novelty. Innovation can occur on purpose, by accident or as a clever disguise. Life Science enterprises built their business on drug innovation- now it is time to use that innovative spirit [...]

How big is 'big data' in healthcare?

Graham Hughes, MD — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 21:43:33 +0000

In my last post I spoke to the problem of medical data overload as it relates to our innate human inability to store and process more than 7 variables (plus or minus 2) at any one time. This week, I’ll explore what’s driving the data overload and, in particular, how big [...]

Healthcare has a problem: big data & the law of seven

Graham Hughes, MD — Tue, 04 Oct 2011 20:17:30 +0000

In one of the most quoted papers on psychology ever written, George Armitage Miller claimed that he had been persecuted by an integer. That integer was the number 7. Over a period of seven years, he had found through his own research and through an extensive literature review that human [...]