6) CMS Still Twittles its Thumbs Regarding Remote Monitoring, Payers and Large IDNs Step-up: For some ungodly reason, CMS just can’t seem to get his mind around the concept of remote monitoring/telehealth and will not open its purse to reimburse for such services.  That leaves the elderly out of the equation but increasingly, large IDNs will adopt such care modalities to improve care after discharge and capitalize on payer pay for performance incentives.  A much small market will be services/systems that baby boomers purchase to assist them in caring for their elderly parents.

7) Baby Boomers Struggle Caring for Their Parents -- Seek Solutions: In the last week in casual conversation the topic of caring for elderly parents among my baby boomer peers has come up on several occasions.  This is quickly becoming a very big problem for many of us as we struggle to insure our parents are healthy, or at least being well taken care of, while we reside in the next city, state or maybe even country.  There are no easy ways that I or my peers (some of those I have spoken to are senior leaders in the HIT market) know of to address this issue. We are seeking solutions, we want system changes (e.g., proxy sign-offs, Social Security Admin releases, etc.) that will simplify our ability to care for our parents.

8) HealthVault Continues to Put Distance Between Itself and Other Personal Health Platforms (PHP): While Dossia struggles to get its founding members to on-ramp to the Dossia platform (still only Wal-Mart today though have been told 2-3 others should go live in Q1), and Google messes around with Android and Chrome while virtually ignoring Google Health, Microsoft’s HealthVault continues to push ahead becoming the defacto PHP in the market much like Apple’s iPhone is the defacto smartphone today.

9) Telecom Companies Struggle to Define Their Role in the Healthcare Sector: Virtually all of the major telecom providers in the US have a healthcare strategy, but to date, they have little to show for it.  While we expect that they will become more vocal (i.e., more press releases) these PRs will be more show than substance and telecoms will continue to flounder in this market.

10) I will “Podium” at the Northeast Spring Classic Cycling Roadrace -- Tour of Battenkill: This is a real stretch goal for me for two reasons: First, I have never raced this race before and reports are, its a tough one at 62 miles, mix of paved and dirt roads with some serious climbs. Second, it has been awhile since I’ve done some serious racing  – a lot of training ahead.  I do have one thing going for me though, I am a “climber” and this is a climber’s race.  Hmm, maybe this warrants a trip back out to San Diego for some good climbing workouts with my friend’s club, Slow Step.

Opps, looking at the title noticed I promised 10 HIT predictions, so that last one didn’t count.  Here’s te 10th, HIT prediction, drum roll please…

The Health Internet is a Stillbirth as Beltway Bandits Maintain Tight Control of the NHIN.

John Moore blogs regularly at Chilmark Research.