Healthcare Spending up 44% Among Employer Health Plans, Study Reveals

By: Morgan Haefner

BeckersHospitalReview.com– Americans with health insurance coverage through their employer — the largest insured population in the U.S. — saw healthcare spending increase 44 percent from 2007 through 2016, according to a recent study in Health Affairs.

Health Care Cost Institute researchers estimated the average annual 4.1 percent increase using a national sample of healthcare claims from their database. The HCCI database has private health insurance claims data from Aetna, Humana, UnitedHealthcare and Kaiser Permanente.

Researchers found spending on outpatient services grew quicker than any other type of service at 5.7 percent annually. The overall distribution of spending across categories, however, remained largely unchanged, according to the study.

Researchers also uncovered changes in out-of-pocket spending among Americans with employer-sponsored plans. While the total share of out-of-pocket spending hovered around 16 percent each year, out-of-pocket spending per capita increased each year.

“Our data show that the out-of-pocket spending burden has shifted away from prescriptions and to medical services,” the authors said. “This shift is likely due to a myriad of factors, including benefit design changes, patterns of service use, price increases, and new technology and innovations.”

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PRESS RELEASE: Oracle Shape the Future of Healthcare

Cloud-based software platform advances critical business systems and streamlines operational processes

CLEVELAND and REDWOOD SHORES, Calif., Sept. 27, 2018 — Cleveland Clinic and Oracle are improving healthcare delivery and reducing costs through a more efficient process and workflow. The cloud-based healthcare platform is expected to roll out at Cleveland Clinic London in 2019 and expand to Cleveland Clinic’s domestic locations in 2020.

The innovative healthcare platform benefits back-office personnel, providers and patients. It is scalable for domestic and international growth providing enhanced financial forecasting, revenue management and data integration, which allows for more effective and efficient decisions regarding supply procurement and inventory management.

“Cleveland Clinic has both an opportunity and an obligation to shape the future of healthcare while fostering a culture and environment to provide care in an exceptional way,” said William M. Peacock III, Cleveland Clinic Chief of Operations. “Our work with Oracle’s cloud technologies is a testament to our commitment to evolving our IT and finance platform, positioning us to support anticipated growth both domestically and internationally. Moving to the cloud will be critical in meeting these goals.”

Healthcare is a key industry for Oracle and with Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud and Oracle Supply Chain Management (SCM) Cloud, Cleveland Clinic aims to transform its finance function by enabling increased productivity and lower costs. In addition, the health system will increase the efficiency of operations by taking advantage of real-time insights and automated supply and demand planning.

“Our customers play an important role in shaping our products, inspiring innovative features and defining industry-specific best practices for Oracle Cloud Applications,” said Steve Miranda, executive vice president, Applications Development, Oracle. “Cleveland Clinic is an innovative healthcare organization that recognizes the potential of the cloud to enhance productivity. Our collaboration will create a future-proof business platform for Cleveland Clinic’s global organization.”

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