Darius V.

What a great example of #airporttech! I like the "...friendly nudge by an officer." Excellent use case of curb management. Thank you Andrew K Kirk and Automotus for your partnership. INRIX #airports #govtech

11

1 Comment

“The program allows customers to return eligible Amazon items during their grocery run—no shipping box, tape or label required. Bags and labels are provided at the kiosks where customers scan a QR code, bag their items, and drop them off securely…” KIOSK Information Systems

6

Another great mission-critical software business joins the Solen Software Group family. Spokane Software Systems has been the operational backbone for produce growers, packers, and shippers for nearly 50 years, and that kind of durable, trusted business is exactly what we look for. Excited to welcome the team and continue building on what Tim and his team have created. 🚀

4

Here’s a simple SEO exercise that reveals a lot about your visibility: Search Google for what makes your business special — like “EV home charging installation San Mateo,” “realtor with free staging in San Carlos,” or “accounting for tech-related stock options Bay Area.” If your site doesn’t show up, check your content. Those phrases probably don’t exist there — and that’s why search engines can’t connect you with the people who need you most. Even the best service in the world can’t help anyone if no one can find it. #SEO #SmallBusiness #MarketingStrategy #BayAreaBusiness #GrowthMindset

3

1 Comment

Noah nails it. I've seen this play out across hundreds of e-commerce implementations. The platforms that win long-term are the ones that amplify human connection, not replace it. This is exactly why I keep saying "humans in the loop, always." AI is incredible. Agentic commerce is transforming how we build and sell. But the technology only works when it serves people, not the other way around. Proud to be part of a community that leads with people first.

3

Some great thoughts from my friend Neal Bloom🎩 about the critical importance of Founders in the starting and building of companies, and a startup ecosystem in a community. Sometimes we lose sight of this important fact. Service providers, non-profits, Angel investor, and venture capitalists are here to service the startup companies, and they are anchored by founders. He references a great book written by Brad Feld, “Startup Communities”. For those that don’t know, Brad is an entrepreneur, author, blogger, and venture capitalist at Foundry Group in Boulder, Colorado, a firm he started with partners Seth Levine, Ryan McIntyre, and Jason Mendelson. #sandiego #startups #venturecapital

5

1 Comment

PPO Growth Trap - It's Not Just the Utilization Uptick; It May Be About the Population Shift The chart below shows the average risk score per county for Local PPO Medicare Advantage plans in California. As can be seen, the risk scores had ups and downs over the years, but recently, we see a gradual decline across most counties in California. Of course, when you look at the contract and parent organization levels, it shows different pictures—some payers adopt aggressive risk coding—but here, let's just look at the county-level population trends. Did the population get healthier? Did providers fail to document conditions recently? I think there's a different reason. The recent enrollment boost in Medicare Advantage was largely due to growing PPO enrollment. So, who got in? Relatively young and "healthy(?)" populations migrated to the MA PPO plans. So the risk scores went down as the MA plans increased their enrollment sizes. This creates what I call "adverse selection in reverse"—plans get lower risk scores (and thus less revenue) but still face baseline administrative costs. What's more challenging is that these newly enrolled beneficiaries aren't necessarily low-utilizers just because they have lower risk scores. They tend to be more engaged, smart consumers who value choice and may actively use their benefits. To some degree, I strongly suspect this newly joined population may be one of the causes of financial struggles for MA plans these days. They lower the overall risk scores, yet still require baseline administration fees. Plus, these populations tend to be savvy healthcare consumers who know how to navigate the system. The timing is telling too—this population shift coincides with increased regulatory scrutiny on risk adjustment practices, making it even harder for plans to capture appropriate risk scores. Plans essentially traded higher risk scores for higher enrollment, but the economics may not have worked out as favorably as projected. What do you all think? There are many reasons why it's so hard to manage MA these days. Aggressive coding and AI-powered billing technologies, aggressive growth into new population segments (risky), and we shouldn't forget to mention the increased oversight on risk coding activities as well.

23

3 Comments