Healthcare's Innovation Problem: We're Rebranding The Past And Calling It Progress
Over the past two decades, I've watched healthcare's innovation cycle become increasingly dominated by hype. We celebrate new terminology, fresh branding, and bold claims. Yet, beneath the surface, many of these 'new' solutions are iterations—or direct descendants—of approaches pioneered decades ago. That's not a criticism. It's a call to humility.
Take the much-discussed concept of social determinants of health. Over the past few years, the healthcare industry has collectively woken up to the idea that housing, nutrition, transportation, and social support impact health outcomes. You'd be hard-pressed to attend a conference or read a whitepaper that doesn't mention this concept.
But here's the truth: we've been here before.
In the 1980s, SCAN—then a fledgling health plan—was a lead participant in the Social HMO demonstration project, a Medicare-funded initiative that integrated medical care with social supports. The idea was simple but powerful: that care doesn't stop at the clinic door. Participants received benefits like homemaker services, personal care, adult day care, respite services, and medical transportation. These interventions weren't framed as 'social determinants'—but they were exactly that. We had a name for it then, too: common sense.
Or consider value-based care. It's heralded as a transformative movement in healthcare—a shift away from volume and toward value. But again, this isn't new. Organizations like Kaiser Permanente, Healthcare Partners, CareMore, Atrius Health, and Heritage have been operating under full-risk and global capitation models for decades. They didn't just talk about accountability—they owned it. They took financial and clinical responsibility for patient populations, investing in care models that emphasized prevention, coordination, and personalization.
The principles of value-based care aren't novel. The label is.
And what about ethnic-focused health plans—a 'new' trend in culturally competent care? Again, the industry is rediscovering what others have quietly mastered for years. Plans like the Chinese Community Health Plan, Central Health Plan of California, and Brand New Day were designed from the ground up to serve specific populations, offering linguistically appropriate services and culturally attuned care models. They were responding to unmet needs.
The point isn't to diminish today's efforts—it's to root them in reality.
Because here's the danger: when we erase history in the name of innovation, we lose the lessons that history has to offer. We lose sight of what's been tried, what's worked, what's failed, and—most critically—why. We risk repeating mistakes not out of malice or ignorance, but out of amnesia.
Healthcare doesn't suffer from a shortage of ideas. It suffers from a shortage of execution and institutional memory. The most important breakthroughs don't come from pretending we're starting from scratch; they come from building on what already exists—with humility, discipline, and relentless improvement.
That's why I believe healthcare's true innovators are not always the ones with the slickest pitch decks or the most followers on X. They're the ones doing the hard, unglamorous work of refining, iterating, and executing better than those before them—because they studied those who came before them.
To move healthcare forward, we must respect where we've been. We must stop fetishizing novelty and start celebrating progress—however incremental it may be. Innovation isn't about renaming the past. It's about improving on it.
So the next time you hear someone claim they're the first to do something in healthcare, ask them to name their predecessors. If they can't, be skeptical.
Because in this business, those who ignore history aren't just doomed to repeat it—they're doomed to think they're innovating when they're simply rebranding.
And in healthcare, where lives and livelihoods are at stake, that's not just a missed opportunity—it's a serious liability.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
USA Today
an hour ago
- USA Today
If you live in these states, your health care won't be as big or beautiful
Democratic-leaning states will feel more of the impact of sweeping Medicaid cuts included in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, according to a new analysis by Oxford Economics. The report, authored by lead economist Barbara Denham, says that millions of Americans – regardless of where they live – will lose access to health insurance because of the tighter eligibility rules and new work requirements. Immigrants will be disproportionately affected, with many losing coverage under Medicaid, Medicare and the Children's Health Insurance Program. States such as California and New York – which have both expanded Medicaid and have large immigrant populations – are expected to be hit hardest. Other vulnerable states with large immigrant populations include Louisiana, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico and Washington, D.C. 'Federal funding cuts and the expiration of the Marketplace subsidies will have several economic consequences,' Denham wrote. 'The number of newly uninsured will rise significantly, putting more at risk of worse long-term well-being, which will sap productivity growth' States with the highest percentage of residents enrolled in Medicaid Unable to view our graphics? Click here to see them. The new law limits federal matching funds for noncitizens' medical care, shifting the financial burden to state governments and hospitals. That's particularly concerning for states with high percentages of foreign-born residents, many of whom rely on Medicaid. The federal cuts to Medicaid funding come at a time when states are looking to trim their spending, too. The Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported California has paused enrolling new immigrants in its health coverage program while Illinois has stopped state-funded health benefits for all immigrant adults between 42 to 64. States such as Idaho and Tennessee also enacted legislation limiting immigrant access to state health care benefits. States with the highest percentage of foreign-born residents Since 2012, 40 states and the District of Columbia have expanded Medicaid under federal initiatives. But with the expiration of marketplace subsidies and new restrictions on immigrant coverage, a handful of states now face the steepest declines in federal health care funding. Based on Oxford Economics' analysis of Congressional Budget Office and KFF data, more left-leaning states will lose more money per resident as the new law rolls out, but right-leaning Louisiana stands to lose the most ($5,855 per resident) of any state. Alabama, Florida, Georgia, South Carolina and Wyoming – states that didn't expand their Medicaid benefits – will see some of the smallest cuts. How much Medicaid funding each state is projected to lose per resident Some states have passed laws to buffer their residents or their budgets against federal cuts. For example: ◾ Their residents: New York, Missouri, Oklahoma, and South Dakota require coverage for adults earning up to 138% of the federal poverty line. ◾ Their budgets: Arizona, Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Montana, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Utah and Virginia tie Medicaid spending to federal funding levels.
Miami Herald
3 hours ago
- Miami Herald
Health groups aim to counter growing ‘national scandal' of elder homelessness
At age 82, Roberta Rabinovitz realized she had no place to go. A widow, she had lost both her daughters to cancer, after living with one and then the other, nursing them until their deaths. Then she moved in with her brother in Florida, until he also died. And so last fall, while recovering from lung cancer, Rabinovitz ended up at her grandson's home in Burrillville, Rhode Island, where she slept on the couch and struggled to navigate the steep staircase to the shower. That wasn't sustainable, and with apartment rents out of reach, Rabinovitz joined the growing population of older Americans unsure of where to lay their heads at night. But Rabinovitz was fortunate. She found a place to live, through what might seem an unlikely source — a health care nonprofit, the PACE Organization of Rhode Island. Around the country, arranging for housing is a relatively new and growing challenge for such PACE groups, which are funded through Medicaid and Medicare. PACE stands for a Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly, and the organizations aim to keep frail, older people in their homes. But a patient can't stay at home if they don't have one. As housing costs rise, organizations responsible for people's medical care are realizing that to ensure their clients have a place to live, they must venture outside their lanes. Even hospitals — in Denver, New Orleans, New York City and elsewhere — have started investing in housing, recognizing that health isn't possible without it. And among older adults, the need is especially growing. In the U.S., 1 in 5 people who were homeless in 2024 were 55 or older, with the total older homeless population up 6% from the previous year. Dennis Culhane, a University of Pennsylvania professor who specializes in homelessness and housing policy, calculated that the number of men older than 60 living in shelters roughly tripled from 2000 to 2020. 'It's a national scandal, really, that the richest country in the world would have destitute elderly and disabled people,' Culhane said. Over decades of research, Culhane has documented the plight of people born between 1955 and 1965 who came of age during recessions and never got an economic foothold. Many in this group endured intermittent homelessness throughout their lives, and now their troubles are compounded by aging. But other homeless older adults are new to the experience. Many teeter on the edge of poverty, said Sandy Markwood, CEO of USAging, a national association representing what are known as area agencies on aging. A single incident can tip them into homelessness — the death of a spouse, job loss, a rent increase, an injury or illness. If cognitive decline starts, an older person may forget to pay their mortgage. Even those with paid-off houses often can't afford rising property taxes and upkeep. 'No one imagines anybody living on the street at 75 or 80,' Markwood said. 'But they are.' President Donald Trump's recent budget law, which makes substantial federal cuts to Medicaid, the public insurance program for those with low incomes or disabilities, will make matters worse for older people with limited incomes, said Yolanda Stevens, program and policy analyst with the National Alliance to End Homelessness. If people lose their health coverage or their local hospital closes, it will be harder for them to maintain their health and pay the rent. 'It's a perfect storm,' Stevens said. 'It's an unfortunate, devastating storm for our older Americans.' Adding to the challenges, the Labor Department recently halted a job training program intended to keep low-income older people in the workforce. Those circumstances have sent PACE health plans throughout the country into uncharted waters, prompting them to set up shop within senior housing projects, partner with housing providers, or even join forces with nonprofit developers to build their own. A 1997 federal law recognized PACE organizations as a provider type for Medicare and Medicaid. Today, some 185 operate in the U.S., each serving a defined geographic area, with a total of more than 83,000 participants. They enroll people 55 and older who are sick enough for nursing home care, and then provide everything their patients need to stay home despite their frailty. They also run centers that function as medical clinics and adult day centers and provide transportation. These organizations primarily serve impoverished people with complex medical conditions who are eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare. They pool money from both programs and operate within a set budget for each participant. PACE officials worry that, as federal funding for Medicaid programs shrinks, states will curtail support. But the PACE concept has always had bipartisan support, said Robert Greenwood, a senior vice president at the National PACE Association, because its services are significantly less expensive than nursing home care. The financing structure gives PACE the flexibility to do what it takes to keep participants living on their own, even if it means buying an air conditioner or taking a patient's dog to the vet. Taking on the housing crisis is another step toward the same goal. In the Detroit area, PACE Southeast Michigan, which serves 2,200 participants, partners with the owners of senior housing. The landlords agree to keep the rent affordable, and PACE provides services to their tenants who are members. Housing providers 'like to be full, they like their seniors cared for, and we do all of that,' said Mary Naber, president and CEO of PACE Southeast Michigan. For participants who become too infirm to live on their own, the Michigan organization has leased a wing in an independent living center, where it provides round-the-clock supportive care. The organization also is partnering with a nonprofit developer to create a cluster of 21 shipping containers converted into little houses in Eastpointe, just outside Detroit. Still in the planning stages, Naber said, the refurbished containers will probably rent for about $1,000 to $1,100 a month. In San Diego, the PACE program at St. Paul's Senior Services cares for chronically homeless people as they move into housing, offering not just health services but the backup needed to keep tenants in their homes, such as guidance on paying bills on time and keeping their apartments clean. St. Paul's also helps those already in housing but clinging to precarious living arrangements, said Carol Castillon, vice president of its PACE operations, by connecting them with community resources, helping fill out forms for housing assistance, and providing meals and household items to lower expenses. At PACE Rhode Island, which serves nearly 500 people, about 10 to 15 participants each month become homeless or at risk of homelessness, a rare situation five or six years ago, CEO Joan Kwiatkowski said. The organization contracts with assisted living facilities, but its participants are sometimes rejected because of prior criminal records, substance use, or health care needs that the facilities feel they can't handle. And public housing providers often have no openings. So PACE Rhode Island is planning to buy its own housing, Kwiatkowski said. PACE also has reserved four apartments at an assisted living facility in Bristol for its participants, paying rent when they're unoccupied. Rabinovitz moved into one recently. Rabinovitz had worked as a senior credit analyst for a health care company, but now her only income is her Social Security check. She keeps $120 from that check for personal supplies, and the rest goes to rent, which includes meals. Once a week or so, Rabinovitz rides a PACE van to the organization's center, where she gets medical care, including dental work, physical therapy, and medication — always, she said, from 'incredibly loving people.' When she's not feeling well enough to make the trek, PACE sends someone to her. Recently, a technician with a portable X-ray machine scanned her sore hip as she lay in her own bed in her new studio apartment. 'It's tiny, but I love it,' she said of the apartment, which she's decorated in purple, her favorite color. KFF Health News is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues and is one of the core operating programs at KFF— an independent source of health policy research, polling, and journalism.
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- Yahoo
New Medicare program offers much-needed relief for caregivers of dementia patients
A new Medicare program covering services for at-home nursing care for dementia patients has received the green light to expand nationwide following a yearlong pilot program. It's a first for Medicare, spotlighting the needs of the more than 11 million unpaid family caregivers of people with dementia. The voluntary program, called GUIDE (Guiding an Improved Dementia Experience), initially started with a Biden administration executive order to test a new model focused on dementia care that pays for some family caregiver support. 'For unpaid caregivers, who face not only difficult care responsibilities and decisions, but also serious financial consequences with few opportunities for help with training or short-term respite breaks, the program is a significant start,' Cindy Hounsell, founder and president of the Women's Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), told Yahoo Finance. Approximately two-thirds of dementia caregivers are women, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data. The GUIDE program is now offered in 45 states — all but Alaska, the Dakotas, Kansas, and Mississippi — and includes roughly 330 Medicare-participating providers, including large academic medical centers, hospital health systems, small group practices, community-based organizations, and hospice agencies. The initiative has been approved for an eight-year run. More than 6.9 million people in the US are living with dementia stemming from a range of diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, according to a 2024 report from the National Institutes of Health. As the population in the US ages, cases are expected to jump to nearly 14 million by 2060. Most people with dementia in the US live at home. About 8 in 10 adults with dementia live in their homes with spouses or other family members, according to the CDC. How it works Eligible patients must be enrolled in Medicaid or original Medicare — not Medicare Advantage. To qualify, patients must have a diagnosis of moderate to severe dementia and not live in an assisted care facility, nursing home, or be receiving hospice care. They must also be patients of a participating provider. The program pays up to $2,500 each year per beneficiary for respite benefits, which cover the cost for in-home caregivers, overnight care, or adult day care. Last year, the national median pay for home health and personal care aides was $16.78 per hour. Translation: the program could cover 148 hours of in-home care, giving family caregivers a chance to take a break. The program doesn't provide Medicare patients with the funds to directly pay these caregivers who step in to lend a hand. It provides Medicare payments to those provider organizations that, in turn, cover the caregiver's pay. In addition, the program includes round-the-clock access to a support line to connect directly to a licensed nurse who can answer questions. This is particularly useful in case of emergencies and can defray a hospital visit in some cases, Hounsell said. Many family caregivers aren't trained to handle medical or nursing tasks such as managing catheters, performing injections, or monitoring vital signs. To address this gap, the new Medicare initiative provides access to caregiver training and education. Sign up for the Mind Your Money weekly newsletter By subscribing, you are agreeing to Yahoo's Terms and Privacy Policy Savings are two-fold Ideally, the program will cut costs for Medicare in fewer emergency room visits and short-term hospital stays for those with dementia. For families of those with dementia, the end goal is to help those patients stay at home longer and avoid the high cost of assisted care or nursing homes, which can be a massive drain on a family's finances. It often comes as a shock to people that Medicare doesn't cover the cost of long-term care facilities, which can quickly top tens of thousands of dollars. An apartment in an assisted-living facility had an average rate of $74,148 a year in 2024, according to the National Investment Center for Seniors Housing & Care — and costs go up as residents age and need more care. Units for dementia patients can run more than $94,000. 'Alternative payment models like this are critical to helping individuals remain in the setting of their choice,' said Mollie Gurian, vice president for policy and government affairs at LeadingAge, an association of nonprofit providers of aging services. 'These participating providers understand the complexity of caring for older adults with dementia and recognize that family and friends are essential members of the care team.' Kerry Hannon is a Senior Columnist at Yahoo Finance. She is a career and retirement strategist and the author of 14 books, including the forthcoming "Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future," "In Control at 50+: How to Succeed in the New World of Work," and "Never Too Old to Get Rich." Follow her on Bluesky. Sign up for the Mind Your Money newsletter Sign in to access your portfolio
