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Deloitte Health Care Reform Memo for February 18, 2013 (PDF)

"[T]he health care industry is woefully behind in embracing IT to improve the customer experience. There are two reasons: 1. We think we're different. We think our 'customers' are patients or members inept or incapable of making decisions about their medications, treatments or health risk without our help.... 2. We think the value proposition of IT applied in health care is limited. Complaints from physicians about meaningful use are palpable."

Deloitte Health Care Current, September 10, 2013

"Today's health care system is structured with the wrong incentives for today's operating environment and there are few connections to the patient or trading partners who are using closed proprietary systems that create lots of data but hardly any information.... Given the market needs and disruption taking place with reform, the level of mergers and acquisitions, affiliations, alliances and joint ventures continues to escalate.... Market leaders are investing in new ideas, technologies and capabilities not just to solve today's problems, but also to bring new ways to change the fundamental rules of the health care system."

Deloitte Health Care Current, November 12, 2013

"The [ACA] has served as a catalyst to accelerate the consolidation movement [in the U.S. health care industry] ... Several trends are beginning to emerge ... [1] As reimbursement rates continue their downward trend and the costs of maintaining infrastructure and regulatory compliance march ever higher, the acute care industry seeks scale to better manage costs.... [2] The stand-alone hospital may be an endangered species ... [3] Health plans, which also continue to consolidate, are dipping their toes into the provider business through the acquisition of medical groups."

Deloitte Health Care Reform Memo, February 25, 2013 (PDF)

"The convergence of delivery and payments in fully or virtually integrated health systems seems inevitable.... Alignment is not easy, but it no less necessary, especially now. It takes a board committed to breaking down sector silos that constrain alignment inside and outside the organization."

Impacts and Implications of Rising Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs and the Hidden Costs of Health Care (PDF)

"This report: [1] Examines the impacts and implications of the increasing consumer health care cost burden. [2] Shares results from Deloitte's Hidden Costs Analysis, which reveals how consumers' OOP purchases add considerably to the total cost of health care. [3] Explores anticipated OOP spending changes resulting from the 2014 expansion of coverage through health insurance marketplaces and Medicaid. [4] Suggests strategies for hospitals, life sciences companies and health plans to deal with the impacts of rising consumer OOP costs."

State Health Coverage Innovation and Section 1332 Waivers: Implications for States (PDF)

10 pages. "This health policy brief presents a number of potential waiver-associated coverage alternatives, including those being discussed by some states.... [S]tates may include multiple innovative concepts in their applications.... [E]ven with the new HHS and Treasury guidance, the analysis required to support a 1332 waiver application may require states to leverage actuarial, policy, technology, and data expertise.... If a state can show that its state law would more effectively accomplish the ACA's coverage, affordability, and regulatory goals, the law gives states the flexibility and autonomy to try new approaches."

Commonwealth Fund/Modern Healthcare Health Care Opinion Leaders Survey on Health Care Quality/Safety

Excerpt: Read an analysis of the findings in a Data Brief, as well as two related commentaries, Quality Is in Our Hands by Tommy G. Thompson, Independent Chairman, Deloitte Center for Health Solutions, Former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and Many Challenges Await by Donna E. Shalala, President, University of Miami and Former Secretary of Health and Human Services.

Young Adults and Health Insurance: Not Invincible, But Perhaps Convincible

"Among the young adults who didn't sign up for coverage, fewer than one in five said it was because they don't expect to need insurance. But two-thirds said they just couldn't afford it.... Those who did get insurance said the most important reasons were to pay medical bills, to secure peace of mind -- and to avoid paying the federal penalty.... [M]ore than half of all respondents (those who signed up and those who did not) remain unaware that the federal government can help them pay for insurance, or that they can stay on their parents' policies until age 26."

53% of Consumers 'Oblivious' to Costs of Health Care

"'[S]urveys show that about 53% of consumers are oblivious to costs and tend to go along with whatever is suggested. Only one in 10 is inclined to be price sensitive,' [says Paul H. Keckley, PhD, executive director of the Deloitte Center for Health Solutions.] 'That is a pretty bad starting point for reducing healthcare costs, especially if the incentives in the system are for doing more, which leads doctors and providers to recommend tests and surgeries that shouldn't be done, or even medications that don't work.'"

Insights from the 2016 Survey of U.S. Health Care Consumers

"Exchange consumers say they are satisfied with their coverage at the same rate as people with employer coverage.... More than twice as many exchange consumers report using online information sources to shop for a policy than the average consumer, including those with employer coverage. More exchange consumers say they understand their costs than consumers with employer coverage, and when they used their coverage, few had surprise out-of-pocket costs."