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Home > Resources > eNews > Dec 2000 Part 2 |
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Fast Facts
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The Managed Care Insider eNews Volume Two Number 11 December 2000 PART TWO of TWO Welcome to The Managed Care Insider eNews. You are receiving this because you have subscribed; the eNews is never sent unsolicited. Subscribe/unsubscribe information can be found at the end of this eNews. The Managed Care Insider eNews is published, copyrighted, and owned by The Scheur Management Group, Inc. (SMG), http://www.scheur.com and is distributed monthly, free to subscribers. If you wish to forward this edition, you may do so only if the edition is forwarded in its entirety. No reproduction of any part of this publication is permitted without the express permission of the publishers. ---------------------------------------------------------------- 6. Technology not being appreciated as an integral part of management and planning The archaic nature of legacy systems and the lack of really simple and workable technology solutions to handle the basic managed care applications have caused two things to happen. First, technologic retooling has been downgraded until somebody else makes it work and, second, the strategic value of talented information management executives has been under-recognized and under-appreciated. In all too many managed care organizations, these individuals, who will both be charged with and have the responsibility for making the decisions regarding e-health relationships, are not that highly regarded within the company. That is why the adding of value by prospective vendors is even more important, simply to overcome the built-in resistance. 7. Lack of infrastructure In order to compete when profits have become minimal at best or nonexistent at worst, many managed care companies have reduced their infrastructure to a "bare bones" level. While outsourcing and revitalizing processes through the elimination of paperwork and enhancement of medical care quality through integration sound great, there needs to be an infrastructure capable of managing both the process and the implementation of change. This then starts to look like a "consulting black hole" rather than a business solution based on streamlining and simplification predicated on the Internet, and that in itself pushes many executives away from rational decision making about spending the necessary dollars to build the infrastructure to support the business redesign. These are the "big seven" problems that too often "deep six" managed care companies. Breaking down the barriers of resistance means that those designing Internet applications and solutions must have strategies as well as implementation approaches to overcome these challenges, all at a reasonable cost and without disruption of the organization's core struggle just to remain above water. THE WINNERS AND THE LOSERS Just who will be the winners and losers in the e-health/managed care equation will be sorted out in the next two years. Price will be a factor, but will not be the total determinant of who gains market share and credibility as opposed to those who over-promise, under-deliver, and go up in smoke -- much to the annoyance of their investors and customers. Here are the characteristics that will differentiate the winners from the losers in terms of product design, sales strategy, implementation and, ultimately, business success. 1. Do your homework concerning your customers. Identify and know their challenges concerning current systems, network, product design, price, current state of medical management, and cost and performance of administrative processes. 2. Don't make healthcare executives figure out how your product/service will work in their environments. Paint the picture for your customers. Give them concrete examples, timetables, competitive advantages, realistic costs. 3. Don't claim improved process outcomes or false promises that the customer may discover when checking references. Disclose the data you have, what you believe you can accomplish, and distinguish that data from that which evaluates the performance and efficacy of your competitors. 4. Find out the biases of the people to whom you are presenting. For example, a lot of health plan executives still have a bias against the concept of outsourcing because they feel like they are giving up the soul of their organization. Confronted by a radical change to a Web-based solution that will not be internally operated or controlled, many executives will simply go play ostrich or ask their own management to put together an informational Web site and think they have solved the problem of improved process redesign and connectivity. 5. Figure out how to deal with the start-up cost issue before you come into the room. As the owner of health plans, I won't pay them if I don't have to, and if I do have to pay them, I'd rather pay them on a per member per month basis than fronting them. This is a particularly difficult issue for device-based products where you expect and need the health plan to buy them and then put them into the field. What's even more difficult is that the economies from outsourcing and redesigning administrative systems to Internet applications have not been proven from the perspective of what vendors, trying to recoup their investors' capital, are charging managed care organizations. 6. Don't separate the sales from the technology/application side of the business. If the people who have been able to get through the door have enough understanding of the business to do so, then they are the professionals to place in charge of the customer interface, from tailoring to implementation. Show how your product/service fits into the larger configuration of the business competitively. Too many e-health vendors are simply leveling the playing field, assuming that their customers will be happy with an application that will also connect each competitor in a local market. Discuss preferential, if not exclusive, relationships, non-competition, and significant price concessions for early adoption. 7. Describe the requisites that will need to be in place for your product to work effectively. If the customer does not have them, don't sell them your product at this time because if it doesn't work, the door will never again be opened when infrastructure is in place that will make it work. 8. Don't engage in a process that I call product upcoding or subsequent budgetary surprises when the customer discovers the "extras" that are being charged to really have your application/portal/product work. 9. Hire and train knowledgeable and insightful people who don't suffer from the EIO syndrome -- e-health is the only solution. CONCLUSION Obviously, the e-health revolution will play a major role in redefining the healthcare industry. It will occur more quickly, however, if common sense takes precedence over a headlong rush to market, fueled by unrealistic expectations mixed with a high dosage of greed! ---------------------------------------------------------------- What's New at SMG? Our associate company, Venture Health Partnership Group, LLC, (VHPG) joins with Houlihan Smith & Company Inc. investment bankers to raise $50 million. To learn more, visit http://www.vhpg.com/vhpghome.nsf/webcontent/WhatsNewsPRHoulihan.html ---------------------------------------------------------------- Speaking Engagements: March 8, 2001 Connecticut Assisted Living Association 6th Annual Conference and Trade Show Cromwell, CT Keynote Presentation: "Achieving the Inspiration and Motivation to Excel in Today's World of Assisted Living" Speaker: Barry S. Scheur, Chairman, VHPG March 20, 2001 National Managed Health Care Congress Atlanta, GA Topic: "WEB-1: Investing in Web Technology to Improve the Future of Healthcare" Speaker: Barry S. Scheur http://www.nmhcc.org/events.html April 11, 2001 Orange County Employee Benefit Council Irvine, CA Topic: "Managed Care in the Maelstrom: Remedy for a Floundering Business" Speaker: Barry S. Scheur To inquire about speaking engagements for Barry Scheur or any SMG associate, please contact nbelle@scheur.com ---------------------------------------------------------------- SPECIAL NOTE: The staff of SMG, VHPG, The OATH-Alabama, and The OATH-Louisiana, wish you and yours the promise of friendships, health, and prosperity in the new year. ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sites and Sounds on the 'Net: SMG has no ownership of, nor does it endorse the following sites. This information is presented as a resource for subscribers. In keeping with this issue's focus on human resource issues, we present the following sites which cover this area. So much has been said and published about e-Health that, given the season, we are digressing from our usual practice of offering web sites relevant to our main message. Instead, here are some sites which address much of what has occurred in the US this past year, health wise, news wise, holidays and fun...our gift to you! Everything you wanted to know but were afraid to ask about federal presidential elections from the Federal Election Commission at http://www.fec.gov/elections.html For daily news of international elections, election calendars and more (how could you resist?), go to http://www.klipsan.com/elecnews.htm Election LAUGHS or spoofs of political campaigns can be found at http://humor.about.com/comedy/humor/cs/politicalhumor/ Lawsuits and HMOs, remember them? http://www.benefitslink.com/articles/feeds/960931720.html Patient's Bill of Rights, remember? Review President Clinton's remarks at http://www.dol.gov/dol/_sec/public/programs/ptfead/speeches/070600sp.htm Kwanza cards and more at http://cards.123greetings.com/cgi-bin/cards/kwanzaa.pl?log=theholidayspot Chanukah http://www.holidays.net/chanukah/ Christmas http://www.holidays.net/christmas/ ---------------------------------------------------------------- End of PART TWO of TWO, The Managed Care Insider eNews, Volume Two, Number 11. Scheur Management Group (SMG) is one of the most experienced specialized healthcare operations management and business revitalization consulting firms in the country. Our expertise is in time-sensitive analyses, strategic business and market planning, operational re-engineering, and communications, as well as implementation of start-ups, expansions, and new products. The firm's clients cover the spectrum of insurers, managed care organizations, physician groups, integrated delivery systems, hospitals, employers, governmental entities, vendors, and other providers. Contributing to this edition is Barry Scheur. Editing and Research by Judith Jaffe. Production Coordination by Nancy K. Belle. TO SUBSCRIBE: visit http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html or send e-mail to insider@scheur.com with the word SUBSCRIBE in the subject and name, email, company, title, and country in the message. TO UNSUBSCRIBE: send email message to insider@scheur.com with the word UNSUBSCRIBE in the subject. Please take a minute to visit our eNews page at http://www.scheur.com/smghome.nsf/webcontent/ezine.html for archives, subscriber information and to RATE our ezine. Get up-to-the-minute health care news on-line at www.scheur.com |
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