” We’ve known about the compelling triple-tax advantage of a health savings account since President Bush promoted them in 2006. The saving rate in the U.S. ranks among the lowest in the world, in a country that rates among the richest nations. MORE

Walmart has been a health/care destination for many years. The company that defined Big Box stores in their infancy grew in healthcare, health and wellness over the past two decades, pioneering the $4 generic prescription back in 2006. A decade later, can Walmart re-imagine primary care the way the company did low-cost medicines? Here’s a New York Times article from 2014 discussing the company’s vision for expanding primary care. MORE

That percentage of people who delay medical cost based on the expense has remained stable since 2006: between 29 and 31 percent of Americans have self-rationed care due to cost for over a decade. Underneath this statistic, it’s important to compare the payor mix of patients delaying care: nearly one-third of people with private, commercial insurance delayed care by 2018; 22% of people enrolled in Medicaid or Medicare put off care. MORE

That is right, BPPC was created in 2006. Some examples where BPPC are used: Connecticut HIE: For release of Privileged Care information, a consent document SHALL be registered with HITE-CT in the form of a BPPC conformant document using the Opt-in for Legally Protected Data (ALL) policy. Opt-Out (Routine Care): Opt-out is specific to Restricted to viewing data registered in HITE-CT and SHALL NOT reflect restrictions pertaining to any exchanges not delivered through HITE-CT. MORE

One of the studies referenced in the article is a 2006 paper on causes of death, mortality rates and years of potential life lost by Craig Colton and Ronald Manderscheid. The shortcomings of medical care for mentally ill patients are attributed to two related biases: The first is therapeutic pessimism : “Clinicians, including mental health professionals, often hold gloomy views about whether patients with serious mental illness can get better. MORE

When you think of a typical telemedicine visit, you might picture a patient in a rural town communicating with a big-city specialist, or a primary care provider triaging with an emergency room department. Virtual care is now a regular aspect of the clinical landscape, from disaster recovery to behavioral and addiction treatment to military life. There are three, actually: safety, cost savings, and improved care. Improved Care. MORE

The basic reasons for rethinking IT strategy for millennial workers and patients may also motivate overhauls of care delivery, public relations and other nontechnical departments. Retail clinics, which are often housed in pharmacy chains such as Walgreens, CVS and Walmart, demonstrate one model for extending instant access to care and meeting the expectations we outlined above. Millennials have reshaped healthcare most visibly on the technological front. MORE

It’s of course a great validation of the value of the 3G Doctor service that we launched in 2006 that Amazon have put a similar service at the heart of their new Amazon Care service for employees in the Seattle area. I’m confident that Amazon Care will soon evolve from the 2000 year old office consult model as they clearly extensively use data to enhance the relationships they have with all their customers. MORE