AHIP: Kaiser CEO Advocates for Quality of Care

At the America's Health Insurance Plans annual conference, George C. Halvorson, CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan cited "better technology, better databases, and better science" among the tools that will help improve patient care. He urged attendees to "do the right things."

The healthcare reform train has left the station but health insurers, providers, and even employers are still figuring out the specifics of their roles in transforming the delivery and financing of healthcare services.

That was the central message delivered Thursday during the first day of the 2013 annual conference of America's Health Insurance Plans in Las Vegas. Here are some of the highlights:

The Right Stuff
"We are on the cusp of the golden age of healthcare delivery," said George C. Halvorson, chair and outgoing CEO of Kaiser Foundation Health Plan, addressing his remarks to meeting expectations in a changing health care world.

He went on to explain that the toolkit to improve patient care "is getting better every day. We have better technology, better connectivity, better databases, and better science. We have better opportunities to interact with patients to help them improve their health.

Pointing to apps that will help people monitor their personal health and their activity levels, Halvorson noted that "we are moving into an age of interactive, very personal, and very focused care delivery."

He challenged the industry to "encourage, support, and nurture the agenda. "If we take full advantage of the agenda and do the right things then we should be able to improve the quality of care while bringing down the cost of care."

With his official retirement set for December, Halvorson was honored by AHIP with its inaugural lifetime achievement award. In making the presentation Karen Ignagni, AHIP's president and CEO, noted that throughout his decades long career Halvorson has "never lacked for ideas. He has encouraged us to be bold, set the bar high, and to always do the right thing. He has been on the leading edge of change and has left an indelible foot print. We salute you for your imagination, you vision, and your heart."

Status of Employer Expectations
Purchasers are very concerned about the state of healthcare and their relationship with health plans said David Lansky, PhD, president and CEO of Pacific Business Group on Health, a California-based non-profit business coalition focused on health care.

In their view, the business fundamentals that affect their jobs and the corporate bottom line haven't been well-served by health insurance and some are thinking about leaving the system.

What will it take for employers to continue to offer healthcare benefits? Lansky identified these expectations:

• Premium trend. While a zero premium trend is desirable, Lansky noted that some employers within the PBGH have begun talking about a negative premium trend.
• Durable reduction in the cost shift. They don't want problems with waste within in the healthcare industry solved on the backs of their employees and their companies in the form of higher costs. They are reluctant to shift any more costs to their employees.
• Confidence in health incomes. They want to be confident that payers and providers deliver healthcare services that will improve the performance and quality of life for their employees. They want data to help them evaluate outcomes.
• Reliability. Companies want to be able to assure employees that no matter where they go for healthcare services, the care will be predictable and reliable.
• Competitive marketplace that rewards innovation. They want to see competition based on the ability to improve health, including a redesigned healthcare delivery system where professionals use their skills in the most affordable and efficient way possible.

Disruptive Innovation
Keep an eye on Weight Watchers, which is assuming a role in the healthcare industry according to David P. Kirchhoff, the CEO of Weight Watchers International. "We began thinking of ourselves as a healthcare company when the ACA passed and we are actively looking for ways to work into the healthcare system."

Kirchhoff noted that the Weight Watchers product is a combination of education, helping people adopt behavior modification techniques, and group support. He sees Weight Watchers as part of the healthcare industry trend to partner to deliver care. Physicians partner with community based delivery systems (including Weight Watchers) and payers. "These three groups, working in coordination, can achieve more than they would have accomplished alone."

The clinical definition of Weight Watchers described by Kirchhoff is "multicomponent intensive behavioral therapy…" "We are a community provider of this therapy."