Latest News On Chronic Disease Care

Latest California Healthline Stories

Customer Experience Ignored in Health Care?

Health professionals gathered in San Diego this week for the annual Health Unbound Conference to discuss the latest array of promising devices for making patients’ lives better — self-monitoring devices, home telehealth, social media and other e-health tools and advances.

But here’s the thing, said one speaker at the conference: There are so many useful devices and applications being developed to help patients achieve better health and longer lives, but getting those patients to use that technology can be a huge challenge.

“In general, health is a very intangible outcome,” Elizabeth Boehm of Forrester Research said, adding, “What does it mean to be slightly healthier? You’re talking about adding years to the end of my life, but the stuff that’s unhealthy has a shorter-term payoff. It usually tastes good, feels good, supplies immediate pleasure. It’s hard to get people to engage and use those long-term tools that make their health better.”

The Slippery Territory of Autism

A treatment for autism called applied behavioral analysis is basically helping those with autism develop new behavior with a system of rewards and consequences.

It’s generally known as one of the most successful forms of therapy available for autistic children. So if it has some success, why isn’t it always covered by private insurance?

That was the central question at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders.

New Payment Method May Help Curb Costs, Improve Care

Payment bundling, an important part of national health care reform, is likely to be an integral part of California’s effort to revamp its health care system. The new tool has the potential to deliver lower costs, more efficient reimbursement and better patient outcomes.

Telemedicine Efforts Target Uninsured, Rural Hispanics

Use of telemedicine is becoming a more common way to treat chronic diseases among specific underserved populations, such as Hispanics. Two programs in the state have had early success using the technology to stave off development of more serious and costly conditions among people with diabetes.

Cost Takes Center Stage in Health Care Reform Efforts

CalPERS isn’t taking a position in California’s health care reform debate, but the giant pension fund is backing efforts to control health care cost increases. Other groups agree that costs are a problem but instead are pushing for a complete overhaul of the way Californians get health care.