Medicine Archives - Living Well While Surviving Cancer

Will This Reopening Tool Work?

A CVS Healthcare testing tool

At the end of April, we addressed some of the issues related to getting out of the house. As well as the complexities of reopening. Since then, we have learned that opening up during the COVID-19 crisis is very tough. So, will this reopening tool work? CVS certainly hopes so.

Return Ready from CVS: Will This Reopening Tool Work?

Last week, CVS Health launched Return Ready to facilitate the opening of businesses and colleges, among others. According to CVS Health:

CVS Health today [June 24, 2020] announced the launch of Return Ready™. It is a comprehensive, customizable COVID-19 testing solution for employers and universities. The solution helps return employees to worksites and students, faculty and staff to campuses How? It integrates COVID-19 testing for ongoing business continuity. With flexible technology options for on-site testing and/or drive-thru testing at CVS Pharmacy locations. Organizations can design a customized testing strategy to meet their unique needs. Return Ready builds on CVS Health’s commitment to helping the country on its path forward. By making COVID-19 testing available to consumers, the business community, universities, and vulnerable populations impacted by the virus.

At the core of the end-to-end solution is a customized COVID-19 testing strategy guided by clinical consultation that allows organizations to choose who, how, where, and when to test employees or students.

To visit the Return Ready Web site, click the image. It contains a lot of information about the offering and its benefits.

What Will Healthcare Costs Be in 2021?

PwC presents three possible scenarios in its free report.

As we look ahead to the rest of 2020, healthcare forecasts remain uncertain. So, if we want to plan for next year, what will healthcare costs be in 2021?

PwC Predicts: What Will Healthcare Costs Be in 2021?

PwC (Price Waterhouse Coopers) looked at possible healthcare cost increases in 2021. You may register for a free ZOOM Webcast taking place on July 9.

Click here to access the full 31-page report.

According to the report:

Employer healthcare spending could fall in calendar year 2020 compared with 2019, and then rebound in 2021. How much it falls in 2020 and rebounds in 2021 is subject to many variables.

For 2021, PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI) has formulated three scenarios to help guide employers and health plans as they determine the medical cost trend. A high-spending scenario, in which spending grows
significantly higher in 2021 after being down in 2020, forecasts a 10% medical cost trend. A medium-spending scenario, in which spending grows at roughly the same rate in 2021 as it did from 2014 to 2019, projects a 6% medical cost trend. And a low-spending scenario, in which spending remains dampened in 2021, translates to a 4% medical cost trend.

While spending may be up in 2021 over 2020, HRI identified two bright spots. (1) Health has gained ground slowly for years. COVID-19 forced its rapid adoption by both consumers and clinicians. In 2021, HRI expects telehealth to be a viable and desirable alternative to in-person care. Saving employers and health plans on the episodic cost of care delivered virtually. (2) Networks narrow out of necessity. Over a quarter of employers have considered this for the past few years. Some of those employers may move to a narrow network plan in 2021 as COVID-19 and the related economic downturn force employers to shed costs. As well as make healthcare providers more willing in the short term to give price concessions or take on more risks in exchange for predictable cash flows. If it helps them get patients to return.

Paths to a COVID-19 Cure

Three scenarios for curing COVID-19. Which one will be right?

We still have a lot of uncertainty about where things are heading with COVID-19. Thus, it is helpful to consider some of the possible scenarios that exist with regard to treating and preventing the disease.

Here is one such scenario analysis.

SynBioBeta is proud to partner with Leaps by Bayer to make a visual timeline for COVID-19 treatment and prevention. The scientific community is working around the clock, not only to protect us from COVID-19, but to prevent future strains from causing disruption and chaos.

We invite you to share this infographic with friends, family, and peers in your digital community, to bring much needed awareness to the synthetic biology solutions being developed, as well as the underlying science employed in developing both preventative measures and future treatments.

See the three paths below.