Ep 18 – UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance (Part II), with Dr. Stephen Klasko

What this episode covers

Welcome back for part 2! This episode further explores Klasko’s vision of health assurance, an industry that focuses on consumer’s health, and that is enabled through innovative partnerships between health care and technology organizations. Patient’s expectations are shifting toward a system of care that is empathetic, communicative, creative, and responsive – those providers, policy-makers, payers, and other partners who align with these principles will be the winners in the race to value! Dr. Stephen Klasko is the President and CEO of Thomas Jefferson University and Jefferson Health. His newest book, co-authored with venture-capitalist Hemant Teneja, is a manifesto that advocates for bringing consumerism, affordability, and rational economic behavior to the healthcare sector. UnHealthcare: A Manifesto for Health Assurance is a declaration to usher in a new age of digital and mobile consumerism in the healthcare industry, and introduces the concept of “health assurance” – a gamechanger that would force a redesign of the system. His vision is for a consumer-centric, data-driven, cloud-based healthcare system designed to help us stay well: we would need as little “sick care” as possible. Episode bookmarks: 03:18 The FHIR Interoperability Standard and Blue Button are “necessary but not sufficient” to bring about widespread consumerism and democratization of health data 03:30 Consumers will eventually wake up when they “no longer feel like patients” 04:00 Consumers have way too much respect for the healthcare system because they are too forgiving when it fails 04:40 Patients always assume their doctor is the best, and doctors can take advantage of this by not being patient-centered 04:54 Dr. Klasko shares a personal story of a friend who always chooses the best service option in every transaction, but then naively chooses to have his heart surgery wherever the PCP tells him 06:10 Dr. Klasko shares an anecdote on how patients will not often heed the advice of a second opinion because of fear that their primary physician will judge them 06:40 How the younger generation will be more demanding as a health care consumer and how the younger physicians are embracing thus 08:05 Data interoperability is an issue where health policymakers have been “asleep at the wheel” 08:15 The World Economic Forum tells Dr. Klasko, “There were two industries that escaped the consumer revolution – banking and healthcare.  Now you are alone." 09:20 Dr. Klasko describes how nonsensical telehealth medical licensure restrictions are 09:45 Data and interoperability are unnecessarily limited by ridiculous and overly strict laws, including HIPAA. 09:59 “Data needs to be interoperable. It is just absolutely crazy that we have to get most of the data we need from insurance companies.” 10:21 “My view of the future is that the patient owns their own health data.” 10:30 Getting permission from doctors to share their own data is straight out of the 1970s 11:20 “Interoperability challenges between different EHR systems is another absurd reality.” 11:25 Commure is an example of an SSO, FHIR-layer, health assurance company which “overcomes the tyranny of the traditional EMR” 12:13 “Health assurance will require consumers demanding it, open interoperability standards, enlightened health policy, and entrepreneurs working with the healthcare system in a way they haven’t before.” 13:20 Moral injury and suicide rates among doctors due to a monolithic, rigid and impersonal system of care 14:14 “Med schools choose doctors based on science GPA, MCATs, and organic chemistry grades…and then we wonder why doctors aren’t more empathetic, communicative, and creative.