The Healthcare No One Cares About

Posted on February 26, 2015

Digital Health and Mobile Patient Engagement Applications have made tremendous strides in the past 2 years. Vendors are quick to announce an agreement or partnership with Stanford, The Mayo Clinic, and Brigham Women’s Hospital and attract headlines in industry blogs, magazines, and journals. Investors become excited and the process continues.

The US Healthcare System is only as strong as its weakest link. Today, that link includes over 50 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries that will not being using a Smart Watch and never used Google Glass. It is not tech sexy to issue a Press Release about solving problems in the trenches of Healthcare Delivery for at risk populations.

In addition to Medicare and Medicaid disbursements, it is estimated that nearly $500 billion worth of free care is provided annually by family and friends of elderly, disabled, and chronically ill patients. There is a significant amount of data that could be collected during home care of patients that could impact the overall quality and cost of care. The provision of Home Health services to patients is the fastest growing job title in the US Healthcare System.

There are nearly 1 million Personal Care Assistants (PCAs ) providing over 1 billion hours of care to Medicare and Medicaid Patients, annually. The care provided by PCAs has come under scrutiny at Federal and State levels due to the high level of fraud involved in this home health occupation. Ohio Governor John Kasich has introduced a budget that envisions a phase out of over 13,000 Medicaid providers over 4 years. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid have submitted a 2016 budget that will trim fraud by over $400 billion over 10 years.

As a group PCAs provide more hours of patient care and contact than all physicians in the US. While it may not make headlines, the impact that PCAs have on the health of elderly, disabled, and chronically ill patients can no longer be overlooked.