-
Technology
-
Industry
-
Solutions
-
- ASSET MANAGEMENT
- CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT
- CYBER SECURITY
- DATA CENTER
- DOCUMENT MANAGEMENT
- ELECTRONIC DATA INTERCHANGE
- ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT
- ENTERPRISE RESOURCE PLANNING
- ENTERPRISE RISK MANAGEMENT
- ENTERPRISE-GRADE WEB DATA SOLUTIONS
- FACILITY MANAGEMENT
- FIELD SERVICE
- IDENTITY AND ACCESS MANAGEMENT
- INFRASTRUCTURE
- IT SERVICE MANAGEMENT
- MANAGED IT SERVICES
- PAYMENT AND CARD
- PROJECT MANAGEMENT
- SOFTWARE TESTING
- STORAGE
- VIDEO SOLUTIONS
- WORKFLOW
-
-
Platforms
-
Functions
- Leadership Perspectives
- Innovation Insights
- Research
- Magazines
- News
- CXO Awards
David Weeks, SVP and Chief Digital and Technology OfficerAs an antidote to this problem, Georgia-based NASCO is leading a multiorganizational consortium of health plans and their partners, Coalesce Health Alliance, that has developed a blockchain ledger-based solution with secure open APIs to track and manage all healthcare deductibles, thereby helping patients gain the benefits of a real-time information system. "We recognized the value of having a real-time ledger-based solution, and with Coalesce’s AccumXChain solution, we offer a single source of truth for all the financial accumulators of a health payer," says David Weeks, senior vice president and chief digital and technology officer at NASCO.
Founded in 1987, NASCO is a community of leading health plans, visionary technology providers, and experts in the healthcare arena that builds digital health solutions for Blue Cross and Blue Shield organizations. And with its consortium of several blue-centric companies, the company's Coalesce Health Alliance connects four of the largest Blue-centric payers, two pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), and other healthcare organizations. NASCO spent 18 months testing the alpha and beta iterations of Coalesce's ‘AccumXChain’ blockchain ledger and secure open-source API capabilities and went into final production earlier this year. "We developed Coalesce in conjunction with our partner Blue-centric firms to assess the prevalent challenges faced by physicians, payers, and patients alike, and break down the walls of healthcare information inefficiency," explains Weeks.
Coalesce’s AccumXChain solution helps health payers (including PBMs, dental and vision claims, and others) by offering them a standard set of eight
to 10 APIs that they can use to reading and updating information on the ledger. As soon as the payers connect their systems to AccumXChain’s APIs, they gain the ability to operate in real-time, which eliminates instances of out-of-sync balances that are prevalent in the existing manual and batch-oriented reconciliation processes. Simultaneously, AccumXChain’s real-time information updates also boost the efficiency of audit processes and minimize the need for re-entering information, saving a significant amount of time and resources. Alternatively, AccumXChain helps patients seamlessly gain information on the best prices for their desired medication and update their out-of-pocket prescription expenditures onto the ledger. "AccumXChain can help improve patient satisfaction by bypassing the need to contact insurance plan service centers and enhancing the overall transparency of their interactions with health insurance companies and medical practitioners," adds Weeks.
Currently, Coalesce is performing end-to-end testing on AccumXChain with its partners and aiming for a fully-tested solution to be ready in the upcoming months. The consortium plans to have some of its insurance partners use AccumXChain’s capabilities in 2021 with a goal to have larger healthcare insurers utilize the solution by early 2022. From a feature's standpoint, the Coalesce Health Alliance is continually developing additional features to incorporate into AccumXChain and exponentially expand its clients' value. Additionally, the consortium is also adding consulting capabilities to support its users in gaining the most benefits from AccumXChain’s implementation. "With Coalesce, our goal is to provide a single place for our clients to connect to many of their health insurance transactions, and help them gain the ability to adapt, integrate, and scale their operations, offering more benefits to their patients," concludes Weeks
We recognized the value of having a real-time ledger-based solution, and with Coalesce’s AccumXChain solution, we offer a single source of truth for all the financial accumulators of a health payer," says David Weeks, senior vice president and chief digital and technology officer at NASCO
Currently, Coalesce is performing end-to-end testing on AccumXChain with its partners and aiming for a fully-tested solution to be ready in the upcoming months. The consortium plans to have some of its insurance partners use AccumXChain’s capabilities in 2021 with a goal to have larger healthcare insurers utilize the solution by early 2022. From a feature's standpoint, the Coalesce Health Alliance is continually developing additional features to incorporate into AccumXChain and exponentially expand its clients' value. Additionally, the consortium is also adding consulting capabilities to support its users in gaining the most benefits from AccumXChain’s implementation. "With Coalesce, our goal is to provide a single place for our clients to connect to many of their health insurance transactions, and help them gain the ability to adapt, integrate, and scale their operations, offering more benefits to their patients," concludes Weeks
NASCO Provides Notification and Support Related to Data Security Incident
Monday, October 30, 2023
ATLANTA, -- NASCO, a healthcare technology provider of products and solutions for its health plan customers, is notifying certain individuals about a security incident that affected their personal information.
NASCO used a third-party software application, MOVEit Transfer by Progress Software ("MOVEit"), to exchange files. On May 30, 2023, NASCO experienced a data security incident in which an unauthorized third party acquired data from NASCO's MOVEit instance. When NASCO learned of this issue on July 12, 2023, it promptly took steps to secure its systems, launched an investigation with the support of a leading cybersecurity firm, and notified law enforcement. NASCO is providing notice of this incident to certain affected individuals by letter and offering resources to help them protect their personal information.
The affected information included name, demographic information (including address, phone number, gender, date of birth), health insurance number, claim information, medical ID number, date of service, medical information (such as diagnosis information), medical device or product purchased and provider/caregiver name. Some data also included Social Security numbers. The affected personal information varies by individual.
Data privacy and security are top priorities for NASCO, and the company takes the protection of personal information very seriously. Upon discovering the incident, NASCO promptly took steps to mitigate the risk to its customers and the affected personal information. NASCO encourages affected individuals to remain vigilant against incidents of identity theft and fraud and to review their account statements. U.S. residents are entitled to a free credit report annually, which can be obtained by visiting www.annualcreditreport.com or by calling (877) 322-8228. NASCO encourages affected individuals to monitor their free credit reports for suspicious activity and to detect errors. Affected individuals should also review benefits documents they receive from their health plan to confirm that they received the health care services described. NASCO has arranged to offer 24 months of identity monitoring services at no cost to affected individuals who receive a letter about this issue.
NASCO continually works to enhance the security of its systems and mitigate risk. CEO and President John Ladaga stated, "NASCO takes the security of data very seriously and promptly went to work to conduct an investigation. This incident had no impact to the stability, availability and integrity of the products that NASCO hosts and runs for customers."
NASCO has established a dedicated toll-free telephone number for affected individuals who may have questions or who would like additional information about this issue. The toll-free number is 855-873-7643 and is available Monday through Friday between 9:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday between 11:00 am and 8:00 pm Eastern Time, excluding major U.S. holidays.
Company
NASCO
Management
David Weeks, SVP and Chief Digital and Technology Officer
Description
Provides a blockchain ledger-based solution with secure open APIs to track and manage all healthcare deductibles, and aid patients gain the benefits of a real-time healthcare information system
