Innovative Consumer Tools Empower Better Healthcare Decisions

Simeon Schindelman, CEO of Brighton Health Plan Solutions, talks about the importance of developing consumer tools that will empower patients to make informed healthcare decisions.

10/8/16 #2585

Excerpt:

"Simeon Schindelman is CEO, Brighton Health Plan Solutions, and he is with us today to talk about some big picture opportunities and challenges in the healthcare world. Good to see you Simeon. Appreciate being here Steve. Tell us what the organization really is. Brighton Health Plan Solutions is a part of a business called Brighton Health Group. Brighton Health Group came out of the idea that if you combined the care delivery... we have a business next to mine, that has to do with helping physicians deliver care. Combine that with health plan, kinda healthcare health insurance, that the two working together, some collaboration would teach us about how health insurance and delivery of care can both be improved. That's Brighton Health Group. And we're part of that in the health plan operation. And two brands that would be, well, one in particular, Magnacare, a part of it? Magnacare is the biggest part of Brighton Health Plan Solutions, and it's one that's successful. It's been around for twenty five years, well known across New York and New Jersey. And Create is? Create is a new venture us. So we have the idea that we;re moving into the commercial market. Magnacare has historically been very successful and a major player in labor business, Taft Hartley funds union oriented business. And we have some commercial business, traditional employers, but not as much as we think we'd like to have and should have, and so we're using a new platform which we're building, we're finishing the building of right now to enter the commercial market with Create. Talk about this. You said that changes are being made, the leading changes that will be, quote, "good for everybody." Make that case. Well part of the way that we look at this business is that supporting improvements in the world of healthcare require us to align the interests of every key player. We think our competition doesn't do that very well. We think there's an opening for us, so we think very hard about a variety of players in healthcare. The people who deliver care, doctors, hospitals, nurses, physician extenders, there's a world of people who deliver care. They're the people that receive care, we worry a great deal about them and their families, which I always want to be thinking about emphasizing, it's not only the person who needs care, it's the people around that person, it is health plans, business like ours. Its plan sponsors an employer, a labor fund, they're also in this. And it's also agents and brokers, and consultants who advise folks about what to do. It's even regulators. We work hard. Government? Absolutely, government's a big player everywhere. They're a big player in healthcare, let's recognize that and work with..."