Consumer Driven Healthcare Continues To Make Its Mark on Indianapo...( Stakeholders Count On New Initiati...),Health

Stakeholders Count On New Initiatives in the Push Toward Consumerism,

According to New Report from HealthLeaders-InterStudy

NASHVILLE, Tenn., Feb. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- HealthLeaders-InterStudy, a leading provider of healthcare market intelligence, reports that several recent healthcare initiatives within the Indianapolis market are building a framework for consumer-driven healthcare in the region. According to the newly released Indianapolis Market Overview report, the Healthy Indiana Plan (HIP) and the Indiana Health Information Exchange are two of those initiatives helping to create a consumerist environment with information sharing and transparency.

"Indiana remains one of the unhealthiest states in the nation, with a population seemingly disinterested in preventive care," states Mark Cherry, HealthLeaders-InterStudy market analyst and author of the report. "Some point to a healthcare infrastructure that focuses more on treating the consequences of lax behavior than on encouraging individuals to adopt healthy habits, and the local healthcare market aims to address these problems through consumer- driven healthcare."

Marketed as a program for the working uninsured, HIP is available to people making less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level who cannot get healthcare coverage through work but make too much for Hoosier Healthwise. HIP mandates participants put between 2 percent and 5 percent of their income, based on a sliding scale, into a state-subsidized health savings account of up to $1,100, which is the annual deductible for the program's private health insurance. Once the deductible is met, the insurer covers all medical expenses up to an annual cap of $300,000.

The Indiana Health Information Exchange (IHIE) has been described as one of the most advanced regional health information organizations in the nation. The IHIE and its partners have standardized evidence-based care at hospitals, and are working to im
'/>"/>