Innovation In Response To Healthcare Reform Offers Unique Opportunities That Differ By State

NASHVILLE, Tenn., May 22, 2013 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, the leading provider of managed care market intelligence, finds that each state has a different approach to dealing with the challenges of healthcare reform—and each approach carries with it inherent opportunity. Actionable, state-by-state insight—including analysis of ACOs, health insurance exchanges and Medicare Advantage Star Rating metrics—will help companies navigate through the granularity necessary to craft winning strategies.

"Healthcare reform has brought us new terminology and significant change," says Carolyn McMeekin, Vice President at HealthLeaders-InterStudy.  "Whether it be ACOs, exchanges or the expansion of Medicaid, businesses in this space can best track where the lives are going—and where the opportunities lie—by drilling down state by state."

The healthcare industry is used to a handful of states being at the forefront of innovation—for example, many benefit design concepts are created in California and developments in Florida or New York often presage laws elsewhere. Perhaps surprisingly, many of the more recent big developments have come out of unexpected places—states like Arkansas, Oklahoma, South Dakota and Utah.

Much of this innovation is directly related to healthcare reform and the next step in cost control: Arkansas has captured national attention for advocating Medicaid expansion via enrollment on a health insurance exchange, Utah has moved the bulk of its Medicaid program to ACOs and Oklahoma is seeing a boom in tiered and narrow networks.  Meanwhile, South Dakota—a state where the major healthcare players and population centers are separated by vast spaces—is embracing electronic physician consultation.

Carolyn McMeekin's new Executive Briefing, "From prairies to mountains, healthcare ecosystems going their own way" leverages HealthLeaders-InterStudy's new state-specific Health Plan Analysis reports to delve further into this phenomenon.  Download the full Executive Briefing here.

About Health Plan Data & Analysis

NEW: Health Plan Analysis reports are now released on an event-driven schedule, so you can tap into updated data and insights when you most need them.

Health Plan Data & Analysis is the tool for understanding the competitive managed care organization landscape, providing state health plan information that drives meeting preparation, strategic planning, and sales strategy development. It provides insights into the latest state health plan trends that drive local-level sales and planning strategy development and includes updates on:

• Commercial Carriers
• Managed Medicare Markets
• Managed Medicaid Markets
• Pharmacy Benefits
• Patient Care Management
• Legislation
• Healthcare Reform
• Key Market Events

About HealthLeaders-InterStudy

HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a Decision Resources Group company, is the authoritative source for managed care data, analysis, and news. HealthLeaders-InterStudy is part of the Market Access Business Unit at Decision Resources Group which also includes Abacus International, Fingertip Formulary, Pinsonault, and PharmaStrat. Find out more at www.hl-isy.com.

About Decision Resources Group

Decision Resources Group is a cohesive portfolio of companies that offers best-in-class, high-value information and insights on important sectors of the healthcare industry. Clients rely on this analysis and data to make informed decisions. Please visit Decision Resources Group at www.DecisionResourcesGroup.com.

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SOURCE HealthLeaders-InterStudy