Capital BlueCross to offer members telehealth services; SVP of Humana discusses how to build company culture;

News From Around the Web

> Capital BlueCross will offer its members telehealth services beginning Jan 1. Customers will have the convenience of visiting their doctor's office through their tablet or smartphone and will be able to log on for telehealth appointments any time of the day. Announcement

> In response to Republican Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad's Medicaid Moderization Initiative proposal for potential vendors, the Iowa Department of Human Services awarded four bidders contracts this week to participate in the program. They include Amerigroup Iowa, AmeriHealth Caritas Iowa, UnitedHealthcare Plan of the River Valley and WellCare of Iowa. Announcement (.pdf)

> In a commentary post for Fortune 500 Insider Network, Tim Huval, senior vice president and chief human resources officer at Humana, discusses how to build a company's culture--an effort that takes a huge amount of attention and has to be modeled by the senior leadership team. Article

Health Finance News

> Healthcare spending trends are continuing along their historic lows, according to data from the Altarum Institute, while prices are also near similar levels. Article

> Despite enacting a groundbreaking law on healthcare price transparency, it remains difficult to actually obtain prices from Massachusetts providers, according to a second study this year by the Pioneer Institute, which surveyed the offices of more than 90 specialty providers such as gastroenterologists, dermatologists, ophthalmologists and dentists. Article

And finally… Don't forget to BYOToilet. Article