[{"innerBlocks":[],"name":"core\/freeform","postId":2586,"blockType":{"name":"core\/freeform","keywords":[],"attributes":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"providesContext":[],"usesContext":[],"selectors":[],"supports":{"className":false,"customClassName":false,"reusable":false},"styles":[],"variations":[],"apiVersion":3,"title":"Classic","description":"Use the classic WordPress editor.","category":"text"},"originalContent":"CVS Health looks to become a large healthcare information powerhouse with its recent announcement of plans to acquire national health insurer Aetna in a deal valued at $69 billion. Industry experts say the proposed mega merger\u2014the largest in healthcare history\u2014will thrive or flop based on how well the companies rapidly integrate their vast, disparate pools and streams of consumer, patient and member data.

The challenge will be to develop unique IT systems to access, analyze and deliver that information in innovative and useful ways, primarily to serve and please customers, these experts say.

Technical competence in large-scale system integration coupled with creativity in designing new systems no one has ever seen before are both going to be needed for the CVS\/Aetna deal to work, according to John Sarich, vice president of strategy at VUE Software, Coconut Creek, Fla., a developer of software systems for health insurance companies.

\u201cThe interesting thing is to map out the ecosystem and what it\u2019s going to look like,\u201d Sarich said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to create technology. That\u2019s the challenge here. It\u2019s all the unknowns.\u201d

With their combined data, CVS and Aetna should be able to draw correlations across different venues of patient care, according to Brad Haller, mergers and acquisitions practice director at West Monroe Partners, a Chicago business and technology consulting firm.

\u201cMy payer (would know) that I have a pre-existing condition,\u201d he said. Armed with that information, \u201cI\u2019d expect CVS to know so much more about me to enhance the user experience.\u201d Creating this proposed one-stop shop for consumers \u201cwould cost hundreds of millions and take 18 to 24 months, if not longer,\" Haller said.

But Haller also noted the deal is highly leveraged, with CVS funding the $47 billion cash portion of the purchase with borrowed money. And so, while the synergies from merging CVS and Aetna data and operations could produce savings, \u201cI don\u2019t believe there is much going to be left over for the employee,\u201d Haller said. \u201cThere might be some for the employer.\u201d

Also See<\/b>: CVS-Aetna merger could shift patient flow and business models<\/a>

Next steps, however, must be to create deep data profiles on the company\u2019s customers that trigger actions in real time without appearing \u201ccreepy\u201d about it, said Bruce Carver, associate vice president of payer services at MedeAnalytics, a healthcare data analytics firm in Emeryville, Calif. \u201cThat could be the difference between someone getting a phone call who\u2019s a new diabetic three months later, or the week they\u2019re diagnosed,\u201d Carver said. But the incentives, \u201cneed to go back into the member\u2019s pocket.\u201d

CVS declined a request to provide an executive to be interviewed for this story. In a prepared statement, Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, contended than the merger will \u201cremake the consumer healthcare experience,\u201d creating a new system that\u2019s \u201ceasier to use and less expensive for consumers.\u201d The company noted that the 30 million Americans who have diabetes cost $245 billion a year to treat. These patients could be receiving remote monitoring of their blood glucose levels and text messages when their levels are out of range, as well obtain face-to-face counseling on weight control, nutrition and medication adherence. All these services could be delivered at CVS\u2019s store-based health hubs.

Early this year, under federal regulatory pressure, Aetna pulled out of a proposed $37 billion merger with No. 5 insurer Humana. The CVS\/Aetna deal, too, may run afoul of the feds, according to Kate McCarthy, senior analyst for digital business strategy in healthcare for Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is anything close to a slam dunk,\u201d McCarthy said. Generally, to overcome fed objections, \u201cThere has to be some benefit coming down to the consumer,\u201d and despite all the talk about revolutionizing the customer care experience, McCarthy doesn\u2019t see it happening.

CVS operates walk-in Minute Clinics at 1,100 of its drug stores and is in the midst of a clinical data analytics system upgrade with Epic Systems, Verona, Wis., which provides the clinics with electronic health records systems.

A strong platform for data sharing \u201cenhances collaborations such as CVS and Aetna,\u201d said Alan Hutchison, Epic vice president of population health, in an email.

Michael Munger, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, viewing the merger from a family doctor\u2019s perspective, said the big question is, \u201cwill that data be shared with all physicians for coordinated care or will it be more fragmented.

\u201cOne of the things you want to make sure of is having good continuity and communication and data is given to primary care physicians in a timely manner,\u201d Munger said. \u201cWhether it impacts patients, it\u2019s too early to tell.\u201d","saveContent":"CVS Health looks to become a large healthcare information powerhouse with its recent announcement of plans to acquire national health insurer Aetna in a deal valued at $69 billion. Industry experts say the proposed mega merger\u2014the largest in healthcare history\u2014will thrive or flop based on how well the companies rapidly integrate their vast, disparate pools and streams of consumer, patient and member data.

The challenge will be to develop unique IT systems to access, analyze and deliver that information in innovative and useful ways, primarily to serve and please customers, these experts say.

Technical competence in large-scale system integration coupled with creativity in designing new systems no one has ever seen before are both going to be needed for the CVS\/Aetna deal to work, according to John Sarich, vice president of strategy at VUE Software, Coconut Creek, Fla., a developer of software systems for health insurance companies.

\u201cThe interesting thing is to map out the ecosystem and what it\u2019s going to look like,\u201d Sarich said. \u201cThey\u2019re going to have to create technology. That\u2019s the challenge here. It\u2019s all the unknowns.\u201d

With their combined data, CVS and Aetna should be able to draw correlations across different venues of patient care, according to Brad Haller, mergers and acquisitions practice director at West Monroe Partners, a Chicago business and technology consulting firm.

\u201cMy payer (would know) that I have a pre-existing condition,\u201d he said. Armed with that information, \u201cI\u2019d expect CVS to know so much more about me to enhance the user experience.\u201d Creating this proposed one-stop shop for consumers \u201cwould cost hundreds of millions and take 18 to 24 months, if not longer,\" Haller said.

But Haller also noted the deal is highly leveraged, with CVS funding the $47 billion cash portion of the purchase with borrowed money. And so, while the synergies from merging CVS and Aetna data and operations could produce savings, \u201cI don\u2019t believe there is much going to be left over for the employee,\u201d Haller said. \u201cThere might be some for the employer.\u201d

Also See<\/b>: CVS-Aetna merger could shift patient flow and business models<\/a>

Next steps, however, must be to create deep data profiles on the company\u2019s customers that trigger actions in real time without appearing \u201ccreepy\u201d about it, said Bruce Carver, associate vice president of payer services at MedeAnalytics, a healthcare data analytics firm in Emeryville, Calif. \u201cThat could be the difference between someone getting a phone call who\u2019s a new diabetic three months later, or the week they\u2019re diagnosed,\u201d Carver said. But the incentives, \u201cneed to go back into the member\u2019s pocket.\u201d

CVS declined a request to provide an executive to be interviewed for this story. In a prepared statement, Larry Merlo, president and CEO of CVS Health, contended than the merger will \u201cremake the consumer healthcare experience,\u201d creating a new system that\u2019s \u201ceasier to use and less expensive for consumers.\u201d The company noted that the 30 million Americans who have diabetes cost $245 billion a year to treat. These patients could be receiving remote monitoring of their blood glucose levels and text messages when their levels are out of range, as well obtain face-to-face counseling on weight control, nutrition and medication adherence. All these services could be delivered at CVS\u2019s store-based health hubs.

Early this year, under federal regulatory pressure, Aetna pulled out of a proposed $37 billion merger with No. 5 insurer Humana. The CVS\/Aetna deal, too, may run afoul of the feds, according to Kate McCarthy, senior analyst for digital business strategy in healthcare for Forrester Research, Cambridge, Mass. \u201cI don\u2019t think this is anything close to a slam dunk,\u201d McCarthy said. Generally, to overcome fed objections, \u201cThere has to be some benefit coming down to the consumer,\u201d and despite all the talk about revolutionizing the customer care experience, McCarthy doesn\u2019t see it happening.

CVS operates walk-in Minute Clinics at 1,100 of its drug stores and is in the midst of a clinical data analytics system upgrade with Epic Systems, Verona, Wis., which provides the clinics with electronic health records systems.

A strong platform for data sharing \u201cenhances collaborations such as CVS and Aetna,\u201d said Alan Hutchison, Epic vice president of population health, in an email.

Michael Munger, MD, president of the American Academy of Family Physicians, viewing the merger from a family doctor\u2019s perspective, said the big question is, \u201cwill that data be shared with all physicians for coordinated care or will it be more fragmented.

\u201cOne of the things you want to make sure of is having good continuity and communication and data is given to primary care physicians in a timely manner,\u201d Munger said. \u201cWhether it impacts patients, it\u2019s too early to tell.\u201d","order":0,"get_parent":{},"attributes":[],"attributesType":{"content":{"type":"string","source":"raw"},"lock":{"type":"object"}},"dynamicContent":""}]

CVS-Aetna combination to face vast data integration challenges

More for you