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Post by agedhippie on Jul 13, 2017 7:24:02 GMT -5
agedhippie: .....their first market will be Germany with VKB (Germany's largest public sector insurer) rolling it out to patients. This could be a problem for One Drop......
VKB germany's largest insurer ? (lol) VKB is located in Bayern (Versicherungskammer Bayern)only for people working in the public sector in Bayern and by far one of the smallest insurers in Germany. I'm living in Germany and never heard of VKB before This is IBM's description of VKB: Versicherungskammer Bayern is part of the VKB Group, Germany’s largest public insurer. The company is among the nation’s top ten primary insurers, and collected EUR7.6 billion (USD8.9 billion) in premiums in 2015 (provisional data). Its regional subsidiaries operate in Bavaria, Palatinate, Saarland, Berlin and Brandenburg. In conjunction with other public insurers, the firm offers health insurance nationwide.Maybe what you saw was one of their regional subsidiaries. |
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Post by sla55 on Sept 27, 2017 11:45:57 GMT -5
VDEX Diabetes on Facebook:
"A review of the existing diabetes therapies for Type 2’sis sobering. In many ways, the current approach is primitive or backwards. The most effective therapy is the most shunned, ie insulin. Everything else is essentially an attempt to avoid using insulin. Some of the drugs have miserable side effects, some are minimally effective and all are temporary. We forestall the inexorable march to insulin with other thera- pies. But, even worse, when the medical community finally concedes defeat and embraces the use of insulin, it’s already too late. The disease has won. Permanent damage has been done. Life, at best, be- comes a battle of minimizing the dysfunction of diabetes. Patients are then forced to other medications or procedures to deal with the dysfunction created by diabetes. They take medications for neuropathy. They get laser procedures for the leaky blood vessels in their eyes. They visit a dialysis center three times a week and get hooked up to a machine to cleanse their blood. What a way to live.
One obvious question presents itself: in any battle, why would you save your best weapon until you’ve already suffered huge losses? Does that make any sense? Wouldn’t you use your best weapon first? #Afrezza #VDEXdiabetes #diabetes"
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Post by kbrion77 on Sept 27, 2017 11:52:02 GMT -5
VDEX Diabetes on Facebook: " A review of the existing diabetes therapies for Type 2’sis sobering. In many ways, the current approach is primitive or backwards. The most effective therapy is the most shunned, ie insulin. Everything else is essentially an attempt to avoid using insulin. Some of the drugs have miserable side effects, some are minimally effective and all are temporary. We forestall the inexorable march to insulin with other thera- pies. But, even worse, when the medical community finally concedes defeat and embraces the use of insulin, it’s already too late. The disease has won. Permanent damage has been done. Life, at best, be- comes a battle of minimizing the dysfunction of diabetes. Patients are then forced to other medications or procedures to deal with the dysfunction created by diabetes. They take medications for neuropathy. They get laser procedures for the leaky blood vessels in their eyes. They visit a dialysis center three times a week and get hooked up to a machine to cleanse their blood. What a way to live.
One obvious question presents itself: in any battle, why would you save your best weapon until you’ve already suffered huge losses? Does that make any sense? Wouldn’t you use your best weapon first? #Afrezza #VDEXdiabetes #diabetes"Sure but is it affordable to masses, is it easy to get, is it easy to use? Until those questions are answered with a yes we will stay where we are. |
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Post by sla55 on Sept 30, 2017 12:57:51 GMT -5
VDEX Diabetes on Facebook:
"Interested in helping people beat Diabetes?
OPEN YOUR OWN VDEX LOCATION...
The Vdex licensing program is NOT a franchise program. Vdex acts as a consultant to assist you in establishing your own practice helping people with diabetes beat this disease.
We provide you with a formula for establishing your business/practice along with medical expertise and research findings for your consideration and use. We also provide on-going consultation and marketing support. You provide the entrepreneurial drive.
Any person can have a Vdex Diabetes practice. You don’t need to be a physician. The important point for non-physicians is that a licensed physician (or in some states, non-physician medical provider) must provide, or oversee the provision of, medical services. (Each state has its own medical regulations. We recommend legal guidance for anyone considering participating.)
Setting up a Vdex Diabetes practice is NOT capital intensive, as compared to similar, franchise-type operations. Based on the experiences we had opening our own locations, we can guide you away from the potential pitfalls that come with any entrepreneurial venture. The most important quality is the drive to help people. Interested parties should go to vdexdiabetes.com and click on the YOUR VDEX in far right hand corner. Fill out the submission form. You will be glad you did! #VDEXdiabetes #WeareheretoHelp #diabetes #T1D #T2D #revolution #ThefightagainstDiabetes"
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Post by MnkdWASmyRtrmntPlan on Sept 30, 2017 15:00:28 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that, Sla. I wonder if there would be any money in that kind of venture, or if it would basically be volunteering to help PWD's (i.e., The most important quality is the drive to help people). I'm still struggling with how Vdex intends to make money. Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs?
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Post by nylefty on Sept 30, 2017 15:30:37 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that, Sla. I wonder if there would be any money in that kind of venture, or if it would basically be volunteering to help PWD's (i.e., The most important quality is the drive to help people). I'm still struggling with how Vdex intends to make money. Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs? Why wouldn't they be able to collect from payors? When I go to a walk-in clinic I usually see a nurse practitioner. Medicare and my private insurance plan pay the practitioner's bill. Why would it be any different for Vdex? Afrezza is a different matter, but I assume that the Vdex practitioners write prescriptions for it and the PWDs either pay for it at a pharmacy and/or their prescription plan pays for it in part. |
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Post by dreamboatcruise on Sept 30, 2017 15:41:19 GMT -5
Thanks for posting that, Sla. I wonder if there would be any money in that kind of venture, or if it would basically be volunteering to help PWD's (i.e., The most important quality is the drive to help people). I'm still struggling with how Vdex intends to make money. Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs? Why wouldn't they be able to collect from payors? When I go to a walk-in clinic I usually see a nurse practitioner. Medicare and my private insurance plan pay the practitioner's bill. Why would it be any different for Vdex? Afrezza is a different matter, but I assume that the Vdex practitioners write prescriptions for it and the PWDs either pay for it at a pharmacy and/or their prescription plan pays for it in part. Many in the US have "networks" of doctors they must use... the crux of the whole "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor" debacle. Further, many are on HMOs where you can't see any doc other than your primary care physician unless you get authorization (other than urgent care or ER, for which you pay higher co-pays). |
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Post by nylefty on Sept 30, 2017 16:06:43 GMT -5
Why wouldn't they be able to collect from payors? When I go to a walk-in clinic I usually see a nurse practitioner. Medicare and my private insurance plan pay the practitioner's bill. Why would it be any different for Vdex? Afrezza is a different matter, but I assume that the Vdex practitioners write prescriptions for it and the PWDs either pay for it at a pharmacy and/or their prescription plan pays for it in part. Many in the US have "networks" of doctors they must use... the crux of the whole "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor" debacle. Further, many are on HMOs where you can't see any doc other than your primary care physician unless you get authorization (other than urgent care or ER, for which you pay higher co-pays). The question was "Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs? "
My point was that a Vdex clinic would be in the same position as a new walk-in clinic when it came to collecting from Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance companies. Walk-in clinics are popping up all over the place and seem to be doing well. |
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Post by dreamboatcruise on Sept 30, 2017 16:21:41 GMT -5
Many in the US have "networks" of doctors they must use... the crux of the whole "if you like your doctor you can keep your doctor" debacle. Further, many are on HMOs where you can't see any doc other than your primary care physician unless you get authorization (other than urgent care or ER, for which you pay higher co-pays). The question was "Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs? "
My point was that a Vdex clinic would be in the same position as a new walk-in clinic when it came to collecting from Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance companies. Walk-in clinics are popping up all over the place and seem to be doing well. The insurance I have now does cover some walk-in "urgent care" clinics, but still only the ones they've contracted with. Medicare/Medicaid is likely quite different than private insurance... and I know less about how those work than commercial insurance (I've been the plan administrator at companies in the past, so I've seen a lot of examples of different plans though admittedly all within the same state). I'm not claiming to know whether VDEX is profitable or not, but I would point out that there have been notable examples of diabetes focused clinics failing financially and closing. Past threads here have discussed those and given links to articles. I don't know enough about healthcare industry to be able to speculate why many diabetes clinics have failed and yet walk-in clinics seem to be growing in number. Perhaps VDEX has found a business model that is profitable. |
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Post by nylefty on Sept 30, 2017 16:34:09 GMT -5
The question was "Will they be able to collect anything from Payors, or will they collect strictly from PWDs? "
My point was that a Vdex clinic would be in the same position as a new walk-in clinic when it came to collecting from Medicare, Medicaid or private insurance companies. Walk-in clinics are popping up all over the place and seem to be doing well. The insurance I have now does cover some walk-in "urgent care" clinics, but still only the ones they've contracted with. Medicare/Medicaid is likely quite different than private insurance... and I know less about how those work than commercial insurance (I've been the plan administrator at companies in the past, so I've seen a lot of examples of different plans though admittedly all within the same state). I'm not claiming to know whether VDEX is profitable or not, but I would point out that there have been notable examples of diabetes focused clinics failing financially and closing. Past threads here have discussed those and given links to articles. I don't know enough about healthcare industry to be able to speculate why many diabetes clinics have failed and yet walk-in clinics seem to be growing in number. Perhaps VDEX has found a business model that is profitable. Of course those diabetes clinics of the past didn't have Afrezza to work with -- and VDEX has the added advantage of having an excellent Afrezza protocol (something most practitioners seem to lack). |
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Post by dreamboatcruise on Sept 30, 2017 16:44:28 GMT -5
The insurance I have now does cover some walk-in "urgent care" clinics, but still only the ones they've contracted with. Medicare/Medicaid is likely quite different than private insurance... and I know less about how those work than commercial insurance (I've been the plan administrator at companies in the past, so I've seen a lot of examples of different plans though admittedly all within the same state). I'm not claiming to know whether VDEX is profitable or not, but I would point out that there have been notable examples of diabetes focused clinics failing financially and closing. Past threads here have discussed those and given links to articles. I don't know enough about healthcare industry to be able to speculate why many diabetes clinics have failed and yet walk-in clinics seem to be growing in number. Perhaps VDEX has found a business model that is profitable. Of course those diabetes clinics of the past didn't have Afrezza to work with -- and VDEX has the added advantage of having an excellent Afrezza protocol (something most practitioners seem to lack). Though some of the articles I have read about clinics that failed financially due to reimbursement issues stated that the clinics actually achieved meaningful improvement in clinical outcomes. Some of the clinics that failed I believe had a more hands on intensive education/intervention model... and that had financial repercussions beyond just the in vs out of network issue. So perhaps VDEX's model with Afrezza is a different case. Maybe there is enough of a population that can pay out of pocket to support a small number of VDEX locations. I certainly hope VDEX is profitable and I'm cheering for them to succeed. |
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Post by agedhippie on Sept 30, 2017 19:37:56 GMT -5
Of course those diabetes clinics of the past didn't have Afrezza to work with -- and VDEX has the added advantage of having an excellent Afrezza protocol (something most practitioners seem to lack). Though some of the articles I have read about clinics that failed financially due to reimbursement issues stated that the clinics actually achieved meaningful improvement in clinical outcomes. Some of the clinics that failed I believe had a more hands on intensive education/intervention model... and that had financial repercussions beyond just the in vs out of network issue. So perhaps VDEX's model with Afrezza is a different case. Maybe there is enough of a population that can pay out of pocket to support a small number of VDEX locations. I certainly hope VDEX is profitable and I'm cheering for them to succeed. It's reimbursement that causes the problems. The rate is lower than the run costs so it is extremely difficult to do it via insurance. I think Vdex are following the Integrated Diabetes model and not taking insurance. This works but it restricts your customers those prepared to pay out of pocket. |
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Post by seanismorris on Sept 30, 2017 19:55:36 GMT -5
The “OPEN YOUR OWN VDEX LOCATION” post on Facebook was just weird...
The plan was for them to open a bunch of locations, but now they want to be a consultant?
It sounds like their funding fell through...
I hope they survive. The original idea was a good one, though they obviously face challenges to grow.
I’m not sure who would buy into their own VDEX location without going through the finances of the original. Not taking insurance might be a deal breaker...
I wonder if all this time they’ve been trying to get covered by health plans.
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Post by sportsrancho on Sept 30, 2017 21:24:01 GMT -5
The “OPEN YOUR OWN VDEX LOCATION” post on Facebook was just weird... The plan was for them to open a bunch of locations, but now they want to be a consultant? It sounds like their funding fell through... I hope they survive. The original idea was a good one, though they obviously face challenges to grow. I’m not sure who would buy into their own VDEX location without going through the finances of the original. Not taking insurance might be a deal breaker... I wonder if all this time they’ve been trying to get covered by health plans. We have been over this before. mnkd.proboards.com/thread/8312/changes-vdex-website?page=1 |
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Post by itellthefuture777 on Oct 2, 2017 0:31:56 GMT -5
I would love this as a full time job..it's really I think something I would enjoy talking about..all the time! Then you should definitely look into joining their franchise! Been eating at me for awhile now..I like to talk about it..I like to datamine..technosphere..and other articles....speculate.. and the message board...and watch stocks..If all that is okay with them..it maybe a fit |
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