Flu season is here. Walgreens has just launched its first weekly Flu Index for the 2015-’16 season. Walgreens states the index "provides state and market-specific information regarding flu activity, and is compiled using retail prescription data for antiviral medications used to treat influenza across Walgreens locations nationwide."

2016 Health Plan Premium Projections

Mon, 11/30/2015 - 12:35

Major national consulting firms have weighed in with their projections for 2016 health plan premium increases. Here's the range of estimated increases after benefit plan adjustments are made by clients:
1) PwC: 4.5%
2) Mercer: 4.2%

The Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) recently released its free 26-page 2014 Health Care Cost and Utilization Report, and 92-page Appendix, which provide a definitive examination of detailed U.S. health care cost and utilization component line items and demographics.

The Healthcare Trends Institute has released results of their Healthcare Benefits Technology Trends Survey, designed to examine how benefits decision makers are gauging current and future technology investments, via a 11-question poll of human resources (HR) executives, benefit specialists, and other benefit decision makers.

Here's the five key trends they shared from their report:

The November issue of features the article Top 10 Transformation Lessons from the Field By Amy Mullins, MD, CPE, FAAFP, who is the Medical Director for Quality Improvement at the American Academy of Family Physicians, based in Leawood, KS.

Rather than condense her article all the way down to a healthsprocket list, we have provided excerpts that provide a little more explanation for each item.

Much is being made of the rapid demise of ACA CO-OP plans. Several more closures at the end of this year were recently announced. Of the 23 original plans, 9 will not be around in 2016 and a number more are endangered.

Two lists regarding CO-OPs have recently been posted on healthsprocket:
Top Five Health CO-OPs by 2015 Estimated Enrollment
Nine Health CO-OPs Are Ceasing Business in 2015

What's been trending on healthsprocket these days? Here's the top ten most viewed lists (in order) during the past 18 months - as you can see, these lists cover a spectrum of topics:

Lyndsey Gilpin: 10 Technologies Changing The Future Of Healthcare
InternetMedicine.com: Top 25 Healthcare Thought Leaders You Should Follow on Twitter

Towers Watson and the National Business Group on Health published findings of the 20th annual Towers Watson/NBGH Best Practices in Health Care Employer Survey, which addresses large employers (1,000+ employees.) The results sound on a theme heard from other studies on health plan and health care cost increases released earlier this year - cost increases continue at a single mid-digit pace - far from the double digit increases experienced during the previous decade. But, healthcare cost increases still outpace general inflation.

As of October 1st, ICD10 (International Classification of Diseases version 10)is the official coding system for diagnostic and procedure codes in the U.S. It might have been more fitting to have the conversion from ICD9 to ICD10 occur on October 10th (10/10), or even better on October 10th, 2010.