The health reform law impacts every stakeholder in healthcare-- from businesses that offer private coverage to insurers who administer benefits to hospitals and doctors that provide care. It is imperative every organization is aware of and prepares for the inevitable, significant changes this law will have on their business now and in the future.
As the CEO of the Center for Health Transformation and an active participant in the health reform debates of the last few years, David Merritt has been squarely in the center of this sweeping legislation, gaining unparalleled knowledge and expertise on its overall impact as well as its intricate details. In this enlightening, engaging discussion, Merritt helps organizations fully understand the key provisions already enacted as well as educate them on future regulations and their effect on all parties including hospitals, doctors, insurers and patients. He also examines the implications of the Supreme Court’s upcoming decision on the individual mandate and offers a surprising forecast for 2014—the year all reform is fully implemented.
Healthcare continues to dominate as one of the country's foremost concerns, fueled by confusion, frustration and discouragement among industry professionals, businesses, and the public-at-large. As the political rhetoric ratchets up this election season, so will the half-truths, exaggerations and falsehoods perpetuated by all parties on the current state -- and future of -- the contemporary healthcare landscape. David Merritt draws from first-hand experience, deep knowledge and astute insight to lucidly illuminate the complete picture of healthcare today, its role on the campaign trail and what lies ahead in various election outcomes.
Today’s healthcare landscape is a patchwork of disjointed networks, convoluted processes and independent programs that have become inefficient and ineffective for modern medicine. Retail clinic competition is increasing encroaching on the turf of traditional providers. Change is happening but how far and fast will it go? What are what the real accelerators of change and who will be driving them? As a leading authority on creating practical, effective solutions for insurers, providers, businesses and public institutions, David Merritt explains how the current medical infrastructure will move from chaos to coordination, from volume- to value-based payment and how the importance of primary care and evidence-based medicine can no longer be ignored.
Healthcare has long lagged behind other industries in moving into the 21st century with information technology. Smartphones, apps, cloud computing and storage are ubiquitous in every other aspect of our lives, but in healthcare, we’re handed a pen, a clipboard, and see row upon row of paper medical records.
As the editor of the award-winning book Paper Kills, David Merritt has been on the forefront of advancing health IT since 2005, consulting with policymakers, leading technology companies, insurers, hospitals, and doctors. Here he examines how health care is entering the information age, the advantages and disadvantages of doing so, and the latest trends in medical information technology. What is “meaningful use”? How are federal incentive payments granted? Learn how the future of health IT will affect you, your organization and your community.
Although current health care systems often seem to operate as a command-and-control economy, health care can become a true marketplace. The unhindered exchange of information, services and payments can offer more control and cost-savings for all involved –insurers to employers, patients to providers. In this wide-ranging, illuminating discussion, Merritt demonstrates how the transformation of the health care system to a marketplace would benefit all parties and why competing for health care customers is a novel but needed approach.
Attempts to gain coherent understanding of health plans, programs, conditions and care by the average consumer are often stymied by byzantine processes and technical jargon. Finding clear, concise and consistent answers to even the most basic questions of coverage and cost are often lost in translation from the providers, insurers and others in the medical community. How much will that treatment cost me? Which doctor has the best outcomes? How do I know if this procedure is covered? David Merritt is a recognized leader in providing efficient, effective health care solutions and is all too familiar with this continuing quandary. Cogent and compelling, he offers a comprehensive look at informed patient decision-making and how this leads to increased cost-savings and better patient outcomes. Merritt also analyzes the impact of social media on health care and the winners and losers of revealing cost and provider performance.
It’s a common refrain around the country: Keep your hands out of my Medicare. And each political party, particularly in an election year, spins its own take to capitalize on the sentiment with the rhetoric of “Medi-Scare.” Regardless of spin, however, the future of Medicare in absence of drastic action is grim. The health reform law addresses Medicare but not enough is being done to rescue it from its current dire prognosis. As a steadfast foot solider in health reform debates and specifically on Medicare, David Merritt provides exceptional insight and intelligence to the growing, unavoidable dilemma of Medicare solvency. The prescription for change lies in competition, quality and consumers and if it is not embraced, then Medicare may become its own victim.
