Health Care Thoughts: Notes from the Conference World

by Tom aka Rusty Rustbelt

Health Care Thoughts: Notes from the Conference World

So in the past 10 days I have spoken to and with health care executives from 40 + states about their current view of the health care world. A few observations:

Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), a keystone of Obamacare, are being viewed with great skepticism and are generally being avoided, especially by physician groups.

Hospitals and physicians are talking more, within Stark limits, about cooperative ventures without going all the way to an ACO format.

Private insurers feel empowered by the feds to ratchet down rates.

Older physicians are watching retirement funding very closely (shock fact: 1/3 of Michigan physicians are 60 years or older).

The complexity of managing any sort of health care facility is going from severe to insane. Regulatory overload and revenue cycle problems are prominently mentioned.

It is a happy time for lawyers specializing in health care transactions and regulations.

The words “under siege” are used frequently.

(Damn: just got an letter that my eye doctor is retiring.)

Stay tuned, it is getting interesting.