Kaiser Family Foundation Study Predicts Big Increases in Obamacare Premiums for 2017; However, Narrow Networks Often Exclude Clinical Laboratories and Other Providers

Accountable Care Act has reduced the number of uninsured, but has failed to deliver lower costs for most Americans or employers More big increases are coming to Obamacare premiums during 2017. This is an important development and, depending on how the new Congress decides to address problems with the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the consequences can be either positive or negative for clinical laboratories and anatomic pathology groups. Large increases in healthcare premiums can have a...

Healthcare Big Data Drives a New Round of Collaborations between Hospitals, Health Systems, and Care Management Companies

Recently-announced partnerships want to use big data to improve patient outcomes and lower costs; clinical laboratory test data will have a major role in these efforts In the race to use healthcare big data to improve patient outcomes, several companies are using acquisitions and joint ventures to beef up and gain access to bigger pools of data. Pathologists and clinical laboratory managers have an interest in this trend, because medical laboratory test data will be a large proportion of the...

When It Comes to Mining Healthcare Big Data, Including Medical Laboratory Test Results, Optum Labs Is the Company to Watch

Example is a big data-based study involving Optum and Mayo Clinic that indicates diabetes management can be too aggressive for some patients Mayo Clinic has tapped Optum Labs’ huge data set to fuel research suggesting diabetes management can be too aggressive among those diabetics who don’t have problems controlling their glucose level. Optum Labs’ data is also being mined to investigate dozens of research initiatives, including a major fight against Alzheimer’s disease. These projects provide...
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