Tech

Although the focus of discussion among health plan thought leaders who convened in Florida last month at The Managed Care Executive Group ran the gamut from care management to meaningful use, to medical informatics, payment reforms, HSAs and more, technology’s role in the industry’s success was evident.

Forty-two percent of respondents have used social media to access consumer reviews of treatments or physicians, 30% have supported a health cause, 25% have posted content about their own health experiences and 20% have joined a health forum or community, according to the Health Research Institute of PricewaterhouseCoopers.

Ongoing market dynamics and trends will affect the acquisition, implementation, and use of connected health technology by U.S. health care providers, payers, and consumers in the year ahead and beyond. Increased understanding of these forthcoming changes will help health care organizations and I.T. vendors optimize their strategic planning and investments. Overarching themes that run through IDC Health Insights' top 10 connected health predictions include mobile, social, “big data," cloud, and analytics. Health reform and market pressures to reduce costs and improve the quality of care will play a major role in shaping the following 10 themes and predictions.

Many businesses are incorporating social media into their marketing campaigns and into their product and service offerings. But new technology does not always disintermediate. In the case of social media, the "original" social media technology is being integrated in new and innovative ways. So what is it? The plain old telephone. Increasingly, employees and consumers are using social media on their mobile devices or smart phones. At the end of the day, however, a smart phone is still a phone.

Michael Dermer, president and chief executive of IncentOne, works with health plans, health service companies and self-insured employers to boost consumer and provider engagement. The Lyndhurst, N.J.-based company launched its first incentive program in 2004 and now has more than 350 customers.

Within 30 minutes of being contacted, insurance agent Dal Watson had already added this reporter on most of his social media sites - Google+, LinkedIn and Twitter. And doing so with clients has brought him and other brokers who are on social media increased business, better reputations and stronger connections.

Among the best practices that emerged at a Novarica Insurance Technology 2012 Research Council meeting of 50-plus insurance executives were ways to manage the increased demand to support a Bring Your Own Device policy and turn it to the insurers' advantage.

Advisers should be aware of big changes coming to all Facebook’s brand pages soon. On March 30, ready or not, all pages will be converted automatically to Facebook’s new Timeline format. Until then, firms can experiment with the new design before publishing the page, but the deadline is looming.

In the two years since the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act's passage the health care industry has seen a flurry of activity. And much of this activity has been around technology innovation related to health insurance exchanges, but there are other technologies in the works as well. Here is a retrospective on the last two years of technology innovation, which also serves as a good indicator of where technology will likely be going in HIT as it may relate to PPACA.

Insurers relying on social media sites for customer intelligence may need to look elsewhere, according to new research. Yet, as social network site users become more savvy, it may also present challenges.