Day 4 Notes On The 2018 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference

San Francisco (January 11, 2018) - The final day of the 2018 JP Morgan Healthcare Conference gave us food for thought about the topic of healthcare navigation, as well as updates on the home health sector. Post-acute has become the focus of more attention, especially with the recently announced purchase by Humana of Kindred's home health business. Genesis Healthcare's presentation today also shared that they (the largest skilled nursing facility (SNF) operator in the U.S.) were at 84.6% occupancy and, given the growth in senior citizens, expected the SNF industry to run out of beds somewhere between 2020 and 2025. That's a daunting forecast and clearly also emphasizes the importance of home health. But first, let's look at the interesting topic of patient engagement and healthcare navigation.

Healthcare Navigation or Curation? - Castlight's presentation today highlighted the company's transition from a transparency focused product to healthcare navigation. Per CEO John Doyle, the company's total addressable market opportunity is about $8 billion, of which $5 billion is health navigation services for employees and dependents of large, self-insured employers, $1 billion is for health navigation for fully insured beneficiaries and $2 billion arises from wellness (smoking cessation, weight management, diabetes management, etc.). The thesis voiced by Castlight is that healthcare - and specifically the employee base of large U.S. employers - needs a hand with guiding and supporting consumers/patients as they access and purchase healthcare. In part, this is because of the proliferation of healthcare access points, treatment modalities and the ever-growing (and often confusing) gusher of Internet healthcare information. If care is needed, does the patient go to a retail clinic, their primary care physician, a specialist, an urgent care center, an emergency room? Or do they use telehealth - and if so through their local health system, through a national healthcare telehealth provider or through a behavior or disease specific app? The myriad choices are enough to lead to "analysis paralysis," but wait, there's more. Doyle noted in his view that typical consumer behaviors don't always port well to healthcare. The same consumer who would heavily research and negotiate for a new car purchase likely will not do the same thing when faced with healthcare choices. So, what then to do?

Clearly, the answer being proposed by many is to assist consumers with...