Episode 8: Being a True Fiduciary with Mark Watson and Kent Thomas (Part 1)

00:00 Intro00:40 In today’s episode00:53 Mark Watson01:14 Kent Thomas01:34 What is a fiduciary?02:55 Our story started in 200203:33 County Commissioners knew status quo didn’t work any longer04:23 Consumer-driven healthcare was new at the time04:54 Transparency was a new question? How do you know you are getting the real answers?05:23 When your advisor is only giving you part of the picture, that is a problem.06:08 Dissecting the financial picture of the plan became a problem because of missing info06:44 2003, we implemented a CDHP, did away with copays, moderate deductibles, etc.07:29 We actually looked at the impact on the employee’s bottom line08:27 We made generic prescriptions available at no cost to employees09:31 Generic penetration jumped immediately and paid for itself10:24 Employee meetings brought success stories to the table13:00 Cute story about retiree realizing $200 per month savings14:00 2003, the first year of new strategies, yielded $1M in cost offsets to the plan15:20 Understanding the financials is important but you have to work at getting the data16:05 We’ve maintained a stable health plan since 200316:28 We stay within 1% of our annual projections17:21 As long as you can “see” the math that goes into it17:56 You’re always looking to “sharpen the pencil”19:05 Shiny new objects…don’t be fooled by them, especially wellness plans21:35 We kicked the tires on DPC for about a year and a half22:38 Maybe we wouldn’t even have ever needed wellness programs if we hadn’t undervalued the primary care relationship in the first place25:25 Eliminating barriers always leads to savings when the patient gains unlimited access to their doctor26:33 Data is great but what are the “action steps”28:12 Medical home model29:49 This case study should become a model to the rest of the public entities that need to adhere to a fiduciary standard30:44 Non=integrated silos are costing so much excess money32:01 The data exchange, so long as it’s good data, is key33:47 Join us next time! #letsfixhealthcare www.custombenefits.work