Making Healthcare Affordable: Implementing True Continuous Costing

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Aug. 3, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Healthcare spending in the US continues to grow far outpacing the growth in GDP and employee wages. The average cost is nearly $10,000 per person per year and there is little relief in sight.  The newly released Chilmark Research Insight Report: Making Healthcare Affordable: Implementing True Continuous Costing takes an unvarnished look at how much we really pay for healthcare, where the money goes, the various current approaches taken to reduce spending, and, most importantly, the simple things not being done that have potential to dramatically reduce the costs of providing care.

"If we are truly serious about making healthcare affordable, we first need to reduce the real costs of healthcare, which are the costs providers incur when delivering healthcare services. Sadly, our research indicates that few providers can tell you with precision how much cost variability they have in similar admissions, procedures, tests, or anything else. This is unfortunate given the widespread availability of technology, the ubiquity of true cost data at every provider, and the very nature of the healthcare business. Until you understand your costs you cannot do anything about them. The first key to improvement is measurement," says Rob Tholemeier, author of the report.

The report lays out a simple and effective plan for measuring, monitoring, and managing the cost of care using data already inside provider organizations. It also deals with common objections to implementing cost controls and provides a roadmap on how to succeed.

"As the cost of care continues to rise, cost management has become an important analytic and operational objective," said John Moore, Chilmark Research founder and managing partner. "Chilmark sees True Continuous Costing as one of the many core competencies of today's most successful provider organizations. We will continue to monitor the early adopters in the US and abroad, and review the progress of vendors in addressing this market need."

In this report, stakeholders in healthcare will find strategies and programs to reduce the volume of healthcare services delivered in order to reduce overall spend. It includes an examination of the impact of shifting patients to less costly facilities and providers – surgery centers vs. acute hospital operating rooms, advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) vs. MDs, freestanding imaging centers vs. in-hospital imaging centers, and so on. The report discusses the use of modern analytics combined with data that providers are already gathering to monitor and manage their costs of providing care on an encounter-by-encounter, patient-by-patient, and minute-by-minute basis to assure they deliver services at the lowest possible cost.

The report is available to subscribers of the Chilmark Advisory Service or may be purchased separately. For more information, visit www.chilmarkresearch.com/reports. Direct inquiries for purchase should be addressed to Sean Campbell at [email protected].

About Chilmark Research:

Chilmark Research is the only industry analyst firm focusing solely on the most transformational trends in healthcare IT. We combine proven research methodologies with intelligence and insight to provide cogent analyses of the emerging technologies that have the greatest potential to improve healthcare. We do not shy away from making tough calls, and are respected in the industry for our direct and thoughtful commentary. For more information visit: www.chilmarkresearch.com/

Media Contact:
Rob Tholemeier
[email protected]
941.626.1222

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SOURCE Chilmark Research

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