De trop —French, adjective, meaning too much, too many, unwanted Have you noticed that many early adopters have skipped smartwatches? Other wearables such as fitness trackers have taken their place successively on the wrists of your favorite Quantified Selfer or weekend warrior. (A sign: they are now mass market at drug stores like CVS and sports stores for the holiday.) But how many people are looking forward to a special delivery of an Apple Watch, Samsung Gear S or even the well-reviewed and well-priced LG G Watch R in Santa’s pack? Having just returned from the NYeC Digital Health Conference,... Continue Reading
Search Results for CVS-Aetna
Tunstall adopts new Tactio in patient management
...high-potential home care but insurer-dominated market like the US, where the Tunstall core business is still PERS and there are other competitive systems, is unclear. Tunstall Healthcare release. Brochure (PDF). Previously: Tunstall Americas finds a Mountain Home, Tunstall Healthcare asks lenders for covenant extension (Some free advice to Tunstall: ‘ActiveHealth Management’ is the population health management subsidiary of insurer Aetna in the US, often referred to as AHM. Though the context differs, this Editor suspects that this represents an infringement on Aetna’s trade name, because this system applies to healthcare and managing patient populations. And no, the fact that Aetna... Continue Reading
Forced to wear a fitness tracker for insurance? (US)
For those covered by corporate health policies, the day is not far away where employee health insurance programs will require wearing a fitness tracker and meeting certain metrics, such as walking a million steps or sleep quality. Already some programs have the employee log food, exercise, blood glucose, heart rate and other vital signs to qualify for a discount. The trajectory is much like BYOD–once unheard of, now it is expected to be the norm in 50 percent of US companies by 2017, with a concomitant loss of personal security and privacy. CVS Caremark and other companies have already made... Continue Reading
Patients should be less engaged, not more
...on with the parts of their lives that don’t involve being sick.” Last week’s shutdown of Aetna’s CarePass and the ‘object lessons’ of digital health flops such as Healthrageous, HealthRally and Zeo [TTA 29 July] confirms Mr Tullman’s point. In addition, the issue is similar to medication compliance–where it’s sometimes too much for that person to handle. Instead of figuring out why, it’s the patient’s fault. [TTA 18 June 2013]. Stop blaming the patient (or the well person) first. We should be finding better, less burdensome ways to work with them and help them get their job done! Let’s Stop... Continue Reading
Aetna’s CarePass passing into history
Another Aetna Healthagen initiative is shutting its virtual doors–the much-touted CarePass aggregator for mobile health apps. Available to both Aetna and non-Aetna members, it incorporated leading apps such as Fitbit, Jawbone, Withings, MapMyFitness and BodyMedia. A dimming of its consumer/mobile health star which burned so brightly from late 2012 through last year was evident at this year’s HIMSS. CarePass was nowhere to be seen, and the iTriage patient engagement tool was off in the shadows [TTA 28 Feb]. From its redone website, Healthagen is increasingly concentrated on core areas for payers: ACOs, clinical decision support, data management and health information... Continue Reading
All that Quantified Self data? Drowning doctors don’t want to see it.
...and of course not helpful was the haphazard management of the company from the start; their parent is a buying services for NY area hospitals and an app related biz evidently was way out of their wheelhouse. The fail of Aetna CarePass as well is an indicator of the low perceived need and suspicion of insurers getting hold of personal data. Privacy is a huge concern beyond the QSers, who largely don't seem to care. Docs do not want to be monitoring every blip nor do they have time to, and moreover, if they are supposed to be monitoring trends... Continue Reading
Soapbox: How healthcare disruption can be sidetracked
...retail clinics would be disruptive to the established healthcare industry, their business model was potentially disruptive. What has subsequently happened, however, is a prime example of how potentially disruptive movements can be sidetracked. After acquiring MinuteClinic and laying the foundation for taking retail clinics national, CVS Caremark chose to make deals with hospitals, which could easily afford to rent, open and operate such clinics without making money on the front end or facing real disruption. Retail clinics were a loss leader to hospitals in exchange for large, downstream revenues, and slightly-enhanced market share for the retailer’s pharmacy. After CVS shocked... Continue Reading
CVS Caremark’s employee wellness ‘stick’ revisited–in court (US)
...CNS, “In addition to the exam, which Watterson says she had to pay for, CVS made her fill out a survey that asked personal questions such as weight, body fat percentage, whether she drinks or smokes and is sexually active. The survey was “required in lieu of a $600 fine,” according to the lawsuit.” (Editor’s emphasis) If she had the exam in-house–at a CVS MinuteClinic–it also would have cost her $125 out of pocket, so she went to a private physician who charged her the co-pay, $25. She’s seeking compensation for “class certification and damages for failure to pay hourly... Continue Reading
Medtronic and Aetna: the good and bad implications
A break in the ‘Perpetual Battle of Stalingrad’ that is also a Pointer to the Big2Big Future Last week US insurance giant Aetna announced a partnership with medical device Gargantua Medtronic to pilot a program for uncontrolled Type 2 diabetes. Aetna will use claims data to identify 300 members who meet candidate standards for insulin pump therapy, Medtronic will reach out to them through their physicians to enroll them in the Getting2Goal program–as long as the insulin pump is Medtronic’s. The two-year program’s metrics will evaluate overall health outcomes and medical costs such as reduced ER and hospital stays. This... Continue Reading
Changes afoot at Aetna’s Healthagen?
Recent rumors predicted changes at Healthagen, the rebranded ‘Emerging Businesses’ unit of health payer giant Aetna, and that these would be apparent at HIMSS14. Mobihealthnews attempts to ‘Sovietologize’ Aetna chairman Mark Bertolini’s appearance (sponsored by Healthagen, not Aetna) and what products were included in the Healthagen (not Aetna) show floor display. First, the booth: only Accountable Care Solutions and health info exchange Medicity were featured. Former star iTriage (the original Healthagen product) was relegated to a distant booth. The much-touted CarePass consumer wellness platform? Absent. InvolveCare, the Healthagen caregiver app introduced last fall? Announced to be discontinued 28 April. In... Continue Reading
Most Recent Comments