The healthcare industry talks a lot about “change management,” the idea that through careful stewardship, the process of change can be made a little bit easier. The problem is, it’s a lot easier to talk about change than it is to manage it well. This is especially difficult when it comes to digital transformation, a space that is evolving almost too fast to keep up with. So how should leaders be thinking about navigating change in such a complex environment?

To answer that question, in the first episode of a two-part series on managing digital change, host Rachel (Rae) Woods invites Advisory Board digital health expert John League, and later, Optum Advisory Vice President of Digital Transformation, Matt Matousek, to break down why the industry might need to shy away from the term “change management”, what it means to manage change well, and give on-the-ground examples of organizations who have had success with digital transformation.

Links:

• John’s LinkedIn post
• Optum Advisory: Healthcare Consulting Services
• Ep. 214: Is Governance the answer to AI integration? Duke says yes.
• 4 key issues that will shape the future of digital health

We are pausing release of Radio Advisory episodes out of respect for the tragic passing of Brian Thompson. We will resume this podcast in the new year.

The state of the industry: What healthcare leaders need to know for 2025

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Advisory Board is a subsidiary of Optum. All Advisory Board research, expert perspectives, and recommendations remain independent.

A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on www.advisory.com/RadioAdvisory.

Employers have been saying for years that they can’t absorb any more cost growth for health insurance; health plans feel like they’ve squeezed about as much juice as possible out of traditional cost mitigation levers. Both are looking for creative alternatives to curb rising health costs. Enter ICHRAs.

Usually, when we talk about the health insurance landscape, we focus on Medicare, Medicaid, or employer-sponsored insurance. But roughly 21 million people in the US are covered by individual marketplace plans, and in 2020, a new type of plan hit the individual market, moving health insurance from a “defined benefit” to a “defined contribution” in an effort to curb employer health costs.

In this episode, host Abby Burns invites Advisory Board health plan expert Morghen Philippi to shed light on what Individual Coverage Health Reimbursement Arrangements, or ICHRAs, actually are, how employers, plans, and providers are responding to their rise, and what leaders need to keep an eye on when it comes to these plans.

Note: This episode was recorded prior to the 2024 elections. Given the results, it is unlikely that the enhanced subsidies referenced in this episode will be renewed, which will affect the health of the individual marketplace. If enhanced subsidies expire at the end of 2025, you can expect it to have a direct impact on the individual market and on ICHRA viability, specifically. That said, because of the first Trump administration’s role in establishing the ICHRA model, the incoming administration may work to support ICHRA growth.

Links:

• Is the cost of employer-sponsored insurance at a tipping point?
• Market outlook for individual and small group health insurance
• Ep. 176: Test, fail, and test again: Morgan Health's approach to employer costs
• Enhanced subsidies propelled ACA marketplace enrollment. What’s next?

What health system growth will look like in 2025

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A transcript of this episode as well as more information and resources can be found on www.advisory.com/RadioAdvisory.