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It won’t be super easy for Apple and Amazon to make big pushes into the healthcare space.

That is according to former Apple CEO John Sculley.

“It would make sense for Amazon to get into healthcare [PBM] industry,” Sculley told TheStreet in an interview when asked about rumors of Amazon looking to enter the pharmacy industry. “The challenge for Amazon is not that they don’t have the technology prowess, it’s the complexity of the domain of healthcare.” Sculley explained that it would be logical for Amazon to get into the supply chain management side of the business — the only question being does it partner with someone or build out a drug supply chain of its own.

Amazon may be about to give it all a shot. The company has gained approval to become a wholesale drug distributor in 12 states, according to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.

As for Apple, which has been rumored to have shown interest in buying a health clinic provider, Sculley said such a move would come with challenges as well.

Sculley knows a thing or two about the healthcare industry. He is an investor and chief marketing officer at upstart pharmacy benefit manager RxAdvance. “I think RXAdvance is the most interesting company I have worked at since Apple — we are disrupting the most vulnerable and expensive area of the market.” Sculley said he expects RxAdvance to boast $2 billion in contracted revenue by 2018 and $10 billion by 2020.

For the full interview: https://www.thestreet.com/story/14354803/1/amazon-and-apple-healthcare-john-sculley.html

The healthcare industry will continue to drive the nation’s employment growth through 2026 by adding around 4 million new jobs, accounting for about a third of total job growth, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data released earlier this week.

The fastest-growing sectors include healthcare support occupations (23.2{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78} increase from 2016-2026) and healthcare practitioners and technical occupations (15.2{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}), which entail home health aides, physician assistants and nurse practitioners, among other positions. These two occupational groups—which make up 14 of the 30 fastest-growing occupations across all industries from 2016 to 2026—are projected to contribute about one-fifth of all new jobs by 2026.

The healthcare industry has long fueled the country’s economy. Demand is expected to pick up as the population ages, people live longer, more gain insurance coverage and chronic conditions become more prevalent.

Employment in outpatient care has grown at six times the rate of hospitals as more care is delivered in lower-cost settings, data from the Center for Economic and Policy Research show.

Home health aides are projected to be the third fastest-growing occupations in all industries, increasing 47{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78} over the 10-year span, according to the BLS. Physician assistants are expected to grow 37{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}, nurse practitioners 36{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}, medical assistants 29{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}, health specialties teachers 26{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}, phlebotomists 24{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78} and nursing teachers 24{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78}.e gain insurance coverage and chronic conditions become more prevalent.

Original URL – http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20171027/NEWS/171029879

As hospitals and health systems face constant revenue stream pressures, financial managers are leveraging cost containment strategies that lean on population health, supply chain management and salary adjustments as a way trim costs.

When it comes to population health, the concept is simple: Keep people healthy, prevent them from over-utilizing the system, and they won’t come back for unnecessary follow-up care.

But there’s a catch. Hospitals have to first spend money to get the system in place.

Investing in population health management, however, is far from the only means a hospital system has to exercise control over its cash flow. Savings can also be found in the supply chain, where purchasing can be made cheaper by latching onto a group purchasing organization and essentially buying in bulk.

The article in it’s entirety is available at:

http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/population-health-workforce-salary-management-key-hospital-cost-control-salaries-cfos-say

In a study published in February in JAMA Internal Medicine, Dr. Amol Navathe, an assistant professor of health policy and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, found that voluntary Medicare bundled-payment programs for joint replacements at Baptist Health System in San Antonio resulted in a 21{3d48c2ffeac5b3f3ac54732d49a0b0ca9fd7cec0f4630955c0e7b180206e5d78} drop in average Medicare episode spending between 2008 and 2015. Readmissions, emergency department visits, and cases with prolonged lengths of stay all declined significantly.  The article in it’s entirety may be found here.

 

FirstChoice Cooperative

19th Annual Golf Outing – October 18, 2017

It’s that time again! Save the date! Get your reservations and payments in to save your place!

Where:      Eagles Bluff Country Club

When:       October 18, 2017 10:00 A.M. Shotgun Start

Benefiting: Pediatric Programs of ETMC

We try to make sure we get this packet to the correct person but if you are not the one who is likely to participate, please pass it on to the appropriate person within your organization.

Our U.S. healthcare system is changing right before our eyes, even before reform takes effect. FirstChoice Cooperative (FCC) understands your supply issues, because we are a healthcare provider that strives to identify and ratify agreements that will save each and every member money. Our goal is to help our members prepare to weather the reform and come out stronger than before. We hope that you will pursue all opportunities identified by FCC to help reduce your overall costs. We are here to help you identify and implement supply cost savings with the least amount of resistance.

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes change to force us to make tough decisions concerning our supply costs. It may require us to change, and no one likes change. However, when the change reduces your facility’s supply costs and helps improve the bottom line, it can mean the difference in maintaining community healthcare services and jobs.

Please don’t wait to prepare for healthcare reform. Those who fail to prepare, prepare to fail. So, let’s all work together to be prepared and come out stronger than ever before.

FirstChoice Cooperative has more than 600 supply and equipment agreements in place that can provide you the savings needed to succeed in these tough times. Please give us a call, and let us demonstrate the cost-saving opportunities available to your facility through our cooperative.

We’re all in this together. Let’s help one another prepare and prosper!

 

Remember it pays to make the right choice with FirstChoice Cooperative!

 

Sincerely,

Freddie Sanchez

Chairman