New Website Tracks Health Care Changes

The website (http://www.healthcaretrendsinstitute.org) is designed as an educational platform to help employers, third-party administrators, health plans, brokers, banks, payroll providers, employees and other stakeholders keep up with the rapidly changing health care benefits industry, according to Tiffany Wirth, executive director of the Healthcare Trends Institute, Fargo, North Dakota.

“The site is a central place to assimilate information on health care, a portal for health care news,” said Wirth in a press briefing. “It’s a good way for employers and others to stay in tune with what’s happening in the health care industry.”

Wirth also noted, “With the October 1 deadline for exchange notices approaching, more of the site’s content in the coming weeks will be focused on this subject.”

She noted that with so many changes taking place in the U.S. healthcare benefits industry, including the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, those connected with the institute felt it was important to launch a platform that could serve as a resource for the most accurate and up-to-date industry news.

“The institute will cover a range of topics related to the administration and management of health care benefits, including defined contribution, health exchanges, insurance and legislation,” Wirth said. “We already have a great base of content on the site.”

The site will offer a number of features, including HealthChange, a health care trends education series, as well as ReformWatch, which gives users an interactive map that allows them to view real-time changes that are occurring in health care in all 50 states. Other features include e-newsletters, training programs, and a resource library with research, white papers and case studies. The institute also has a presence on a number of social media sites including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Google Plus and Pinterest, links for which are featured on the site’s home page.

“We will also be conducting a survey on health care trends and technology,” said Wirth.

Membership to the institute is free, and benefits include automatic registration to two e-newsletters, free access to the members-only research library, and reduced fees for training and awards programs. The Healthcare Trends Institute is sponsored by Evolution1, a provider of electronic payment, on-premise, and cloud computing consumer-driven health care solutions.