Humana chief: 'Consumers are demanding change'

CHICAGO—Humana President and CEO Bruce D. Broussard opened day 2 of the 2015 HIMSS Annual Conference & Exhibition by issuing a challenge to his audience to change the conversation.

During his keynote address, Broussard said the conversation has to change from one about a supply-based system to a system based on demand. “We have to put the customer first as opposed to the system. Over the years, healthcare has been built by developing more and more supply.”

Broussard acknowledged that he represents an industry and a company that is part of the problem. Today, consumers and providers are at the middle of the problem and enabling the system to work. “They are the ones that connect the system.” He dropped several numbers that indicate the wide impact of the problem: of the $3 trillion spent on U.S. healthcare every year, $1 billion is wasted, $250 billion is spent on overtreatment, $150 billion is spent on administrative red tape. All this waste is because “we are focused on the supply and not the demand,” Broussard said.

These current problems are only going to be compounded, he said, because our healthcare system wasn’t built for chronic care but for episodic, one-and-done encounters. “Chronic care management is such a different part of healthcare. Today, 80 percent of costs are related to chronic conditions.” Management of chronic conditions requires the ability to help patients with their lifestyle, not just their treatment. The underresourced need help with access to care and literacy around health.

Broussard’s talk included a video in which numerous people were asked what the terms “health” and “care” mean to them. The responses were a variety of positive thoughts and ideas. But, when asked what “healthcare” means to them, the people were a lot less positive. One said, “it’s weird that when you take two good words and put them together, you get something that’s not good.”

“People are looking for help with their healthcare journey,” said Broussard. Siloed information and lack of integration are limiting consumer choice.

Looking ahead, he said “we should be striving to integrate the system and thinking about how we can encourage consumer choice.” About 55 percent of Human members are in provider relationships that are based on quality. He said the company is seeing a 10 percent reduction in ER visits and hospital readmissions and a 10 percent increase in wellness checkups.

“When a consumer has a choice, competition is created. When competition is created, innovation comes about,” Broussard said. “Forty-seven percent of our members have $0 premium plans because we are constantly competing for membership. We are focused on that member choosing us.”

Broussard also sees great things coming from the shift to value-based reimbursement. Combined with integration, “it’s so powerful. When information is flowing freely through the system, it creates better efficiency, better decision making and a significantly better consumer experience.”

Broussard challenged the audience to change their perspective and be bold leaders. “We’re seeing progress but the job ahead is harder because it will require changing business models. We don’t need another technology. We have to change because customers are looking for us to change and make an impact. It’s not going to happen unless this room’s conversations change.”

Other industries have gone through these difficult transitions but “when they come out the other side, they have a stronger industry.”

Humana has set a goal to improve its members’ health outcome measures by 20 percent by 2020. “We want to make it easier for people to achieve their best health.” Although the company is in the business of health outcomes, that is not in today’s business model.

Change will be uncomfortable and painful, he admitted, but “we need to change. Consumers are demanding it. We need to start with interoperability as a base to bring all of us together. We need to look at information not as a proprietary asset but as a shared asset that is free as opposed to taxed and tolled.”