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Health Plan Innovation Gets a ‘New Look’ | AHIP’s CEO Matt Eyles

“I don’t know that what they’re doing is going to be as transformative as maybe the potential of it is – and it’s going to take time. I don’t know that they’re going to ‘all-of-a-sudden’ leap frog over all the things that health plans have been doing for decades. I think they’re going to learn that this is really complicated stuff…” 

Health plan innovation got a makeover this year. What used to look like value-based care models and telehealth visits has transformed. Health plan innovation is sexier – with big-dollar M&A deals like CVS-Aetna and Cigna-ExpressScripts looking to flatten the industry. Meanwhile, brand name collaborations like Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JP Morgan may prove that payment model innovation is unexpectedly ‘label-conscious.’

So, how are health plans dealing with this startling new look? And what should health tech startups who want their innovation investment dollars do now??

A few weeks ago – actually, the week the CVS-Aetna merger cleared the DOJ – I sat down with Matt Eyles the CEO of America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) for a Facebook Live interview to find out.

Will CVS-Aetna really change the healthcare ecosystem? Will it force the payment model to change? How will this shape the investment thesis for health plans moving forward? Will there be dollars left for startup-led innovations if big-ticket M&A becomes ‘THE way’ health plans see remaining competitive in the future?

Matt dishes… and then dishes some more. Giving us insight into the often closed-off health plan market and bringing in anecdotal, insider info directly from the top. My favorite story? Turns out that the Amazon-Berkshire Hathaway-JP Morgan news broke during AHIP’s big conference and Matt was with a group of health plan CEOs as it happened. How did they react? Tune in around the 11:30 mark and see if you’re as surprised as I am.

Where else did the conversation take us? Believe me, I asked everything you’d ever want to know about health insurers and their innovation agenda. A few additional highlights beyond the big news above:

  • The tech that’s has piqued health plans’ interest (right after we talk CVS-Aetna)
  • Policy in DC that’s shaping the innovation climate for insurers (15 minute mark)
  • Shameless plug for AHIP’s Consumer Experience & Digital Health Forum on December 11-13 in Nashville (I’m moderating! Come see!)

Get a glimpse of the future of healthcare by meeting the people who are going to change it. Find more WTF Health interviews here or check out www.wtf.health

2 replies »

  1. Well-written. True that value-based care models and telehealth visits have transformed. Digitization in healthcare is growing at an exponential rate. A solution like patient referral management helps manage patient referrals(both inbound and outbound) better. This end-to-end solution seamlessly integrates with the current EMR/EHR and automated the entire process at ease.