A Growing Opportunity for Banks in Healthcare?

Posted by Mark Brousseau

The banking industry has been an integral part of the healthcare world for decades, providing back-end financial administration services to health plans, ranging from processing premium payments and the financial part of the claims payments through medical lockbox services.

For banks, growing opportunities exist in the healthcare market, and revenue potential is apparent, according to Aite Group. To this end, banks are developing new products and services by applying business rules from existing products and services to cater to the healthcare space. With increased consumerism in the healthcare space since the beginning of the consumer-directed healthcare (CDH) movement, banks have been leaning on the core strengths and capabilities they have mastered in the retail environment in order to develop new product strategies, Aite Group says.

“Banks are in the unique position to be able to leverage their existing relationships with various stakeholders, including health plans, clearinghouses, healthcare providers, and healthcare vendors,” says Kunal Pandya, senior analyst with Aite Group. “Although banks’ overall focus in targeting the healthcare market is similar across the board, their approach to targeting specific areas varies widely based on their understanding of the space, relationships in the space, and overall corporate strategy.”

What do you think?

Consumers Want Electronic Health Information

Posted by Mark Brousseau

Deloitte’s 2009 Survey of Healthcare Consumers includes some interesting data regarding consumer interest in electronic health records:

… 9 percent of respondents have a computerized personal health record (PHR) compared to 8 percent in 2008

… 57 percent want a secure Internet site that would enable them to access their medical records and pay medical bills, among other things

… 42 percent want access to an online personal health record connected to their doctor’s office

… privacy and security of health information is an issue: 38 percent are very concerned versus 24 percent who are not at all concerned

… 60 percent believe that the government should set standards for how medical information is collected, stored, exchanged and protected, while other view this as a role for health plans (21 percent) and employers (5 percent); 14 percent say no entity should set standards

What do you think? Post your comments below.