Kudos to the Nashville Business Journal Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Susan Dentzer for her insightful comments on many issues surrounding healthcare at the recent Nashville Healthcare Council gathering.

The attention grabbing headline of her corresponding article about the potential for healthcare to be the next sub-prime mortgage crisis rings true though I’m not sure it can all be pinned on HSAs as she does in her article.

Compare the two industries and beyond the similarities in dollars paid out, there are some disturbing lessons begging to be learned.

Housing runs in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a family. Healthcare has the potential to do the exact same.

Mortgages can easily hit $1200 per month in expense. And at $1200-1400/month for family healthcare coverage, average healthcare premium costs alone are comparable to the size of a mortgage note for many families.

And houses have to be maintained. You need a new roof …

Once again I had the privilege this morning to hear Sen. Bill Frist speak, this time at a breakfast held at Lipscomb University.  Though last time the topic was highly focus, today the slate was clear and anything to do with health care was on the table.  Although our time was limited, Frist managed to cover a lot of important topics and share his vast amount of experience and knowledge with us in the crowd.

The conversation began with a reminder that the US, compared to other countries, ranks poorly when it come to life expectancy and infant mortality, despite spending twice as much as other comparable countries.  Why is that?  Well consider what makes up health and life expectancy: 40% Life style and Behavior, 30% Genetics, 15% Socioeconomic status, 10% Health Services and Technology, 5% Environment.  Unless you have been living under a rock, its no shock…  we live in …

The best thing about this job is that we get to meet some really great people. Today we met some outstanding folks who are going to make a difference.

Cover America made a stop right here in Nashville today and a few of the change:healthcare team had a chance to catch up with them. The cross country trek to capture stories of consumers’ difficulties with the healthcare system is part of a Consumer Reports effort on the healthcare front.

We really enjoyed meeting Meg, Blake, Pauline and Liz. Even got our photo with the RV in Centennial Park, in the shadow of Hospital Corporation of America (oh, how we love the irony of that one). Many thanks to these folks for what they are doing - fighting for the healthcare consumer.

Meg is getting a much deserved break after three weeks …

I guess I’m a little confused with all of this concern over socialized healthcare. Seems like we’ve already got it . So what’s the big fuss?

Insurance = Socialism

Insurance is based on the concept of socialism.  Assemble a group and they all contribute to the group for the better of the whole to protect the individual. That’s what insurance is. We all pay in. Some really need it and use it and benefit from the group spread of the risk. Others don’t need it as much and they help cover the others who do with an eye toward having their future needs covered. Insurance is based on the most core principles of socialism.

Medicare = Socialism

Medicare is socialized healthcare. The government groups all people over 65 into a single pool. Everyone paid in with taxes and the government covers the majority of costs. So Medicare is already socialized. Ask anyone using …

Because he’s authentic , sincere , yet doesn’t take himself too seriously.

I feel like we share a similar vision about what is right vs. stupid.  My hat goes off to Jay for simply being really honest and avoiding the complexity that the healthcare system tends to swirl in. Keep on cutting through the crap, sir.

If you haven’t downloaded Jay’s HIMMS presentation , do it. Albeit 460 slides, like Jay, the presentation is simple and honest.

Also, I wanted to point out the long stream of comments from an article about Jay in the WSJ here that reinforces the angst and anxiety faced by Physicians and Providers when presented with change… like anything there are those who react with

1. fight/flight
2. acknowledge/question
3. embrace/rejoice

No matter what your position is (mine is c. obviously), the mere notion that people are discussing and presenting their heated position for/against the notion of evolving a healthcare delivery model is …

NASHVILLE, Tenn., (February 26, 2008) – A consortium of nine US-based healthcare technology companies and healthcare providers has announced it will lead adoption of a new consistent file format standard for collecting, storing and exchanging of healthcare provider data.

To be called a dCard — short for doctor card — the new technology criterion is intended to establish basic data collection standards where they currently do not exist. Along with improved ease of collaboration, the partnership will help ensure consistency and accuracy among users of this information.

“In today’s healthcare marketplace, basic identifier information about a physician or hospital is scattered in different formats and in different places across the internet,” said Christopher Parks, co-founder/CEO of change:healthcare, one of the companies working on the standard. “And there’s no certainty of the information being timely, accurate or consistent. As more consumer healthcare information is pushed out to end-users, how can …

Thank goodness that Page knows his place! (just kidding). During the life of a start-up company, the ability of a team to keep a sense of humor makes the day go by quicker. We’ve got a great team.

During our meeting today, Page serenely said, “I should be flogged!”

Ran across this blog entitled medical bills suck. Have to say we empathized with their situation. This is a young couple with a new baby and lacking insurance. That’s a tough spot. They are getting hit with medical bills for the birth of their child now, and the mom despairs about not being able to realize the rest of her dreams of owning a home, etc. because of the medical bills that keep holding them back.

But like the comment I posted says, they probably won’t have to pay the whole bill amount. If they just pick up the phone and call and ask for a discount or failing that, ask to make monthly payments, the hospital will probably negotiate. Some rediculous percentage of people (I think around 60% or more. If I find the source, I will come back and add it) who called and asked for a discount …

Christopher and I are in NY. Met with Steven Krein and Unity Stoakes of Organized Wisdom last night. Great guys - really great. And brilliant. Got a chance to see what they are doing and where they are headed. They are really onto something, and we are excited that we will be working with them on some upcoming projects.

Next step is to get them out of Gotham and down to Music City USA.

Internal emails were going around post-Wyoming and also our updated bios for media (yeach… too stuffy for my tastes but i’ve been told to get used to it). Anyway, in the back-and-forth emails, Robert added this “inside joke” gem regarding Matt’s official title. See if you can guess what happened in WY with Matt and Katrina:
We were tempted to start off with “Semi-deity project manager yet
unable to rent a car Mueller” but opted for brevity.

Sheesh, we all have a dry sense of humor!