HCMS Group Introduces Waste-Reducing Healthcare Reform Solution

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Apr 21, 2016, 01:02 ET

CHEYENNE, Wyo., April 21, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- HCMS Group has introduced a new healthcare reform solution for employers and healthcare providers that is designed to address one of the biggest contributors to soaring medical costs: over-treatment by the health industry and risky over-consumption by patients.

Part of the problem with healthcare waste – over-treatment and over-utilization – is that it's a $1 trillion elephant in the room that nobody wants to talk about. It's a touchy subject, because who's to say what waste is when we're talking about someone's health?

HCMS health analytics help answer that question. Focusing on waste is the best way to lower cost while improving health, as 30% of the nation's $3.2 trillion in annual healthcare spending is wasted on over-consumption and over-treatment, with dangerous narcotic medications topping the list. Waste accounts for 30% to 40% of healthcare costs for many employers, based on HCMS research.

"Most healthcare providers know they over-treat people," said Dr. Hank Gardner, CEO of HCMS Group, a health information services company based in Cheyenne. "They do it because that's what patients expect – lots of tests and procedures and prescriptions – and the providers have to worry about customer satisfaction scores."

Healthcare waste threatens business profitability and puts patients at risk, Dr. Gardner said. The HCMS healthcare reform solution targeting healthcare waste and has been proven effective in bending the healthcare cost curve, with reductions of 10% to 15%.

The 5|50 Solution, HCMS's solution for healthcare reform, is built on a robust integrated data warehouse assembled for each employer. HCMS provides patent-pending predictive health analytics as an early alert system, health plan overhaul and high-touch clinical prevention focusing on the 5% of the population who account for more than half of medical costs.

Over the past five years, HCMS clients have recorded healthcare cost increases less than half as much as those of other companies in the same industries. HCMS is marketing its healthcare reform solution, and the centerpiece of the campaign is a "Know Your Numbers" explanation of healthcare waste:

5 – The percentage of people who account for more than half of medical spending.
50 – The percentage of healthcare cost that comes from business policy design incentives rather than from disease.
30 – The percentage of spending that is waste and can be reduced while improving health.

SOURCE HCMS Group