Worthy is Worthy of Consideration
Advocacyby Kristin Rowan, Editor
Worthy is Worthy
Markovich Calls for Healthcare Overhaul
Worthy is an initiative aimed at nonpartisal healthcare policy reform. Introduced by Ascendiun CEO Paul Markovitch. Worthy calls upon industry players to back major reform in the healthcare system that addresses long-standing problems. According to Markovitch, a 30-year veteran in healthcare, the industry is dysfunctional and in need of a major overhaul.
“The healthcare system is bankrupting and failing us. It requires systemic reform. Those reforms are unlikely to come from the industry itself. Therefore, we need the federal government to step up and make those reforms happen. The status quo is unacceptable. We need bold, systemic reform urgently, so that is what Worthy is.”
Worthy Outline
Worthy comes from the idea that our healthcare system ought to be “worthy of our family and friends,” Markovitch said. The overhaul program is built on strategic pillars:
- Providing every consumer and patient with a comprehensive, real-time digital health record
- Breaking the “do more, get paid more” fee-for-service model and instead start paying for health outcomes.
- Make prescription drugs accessible and affordable by eliminating kickbacks in the form of rebates, fees and spread pricing.
- Put the entire healthcare system on a budget
More than Strategy
Beyond the written initiative, Worthy provides an interactive framework for patients. The website houses podcasts, issue analysis, and videos complemented by social media posts, media commentary, and in-person forums to help consumers and patients understand the changes that need to happen and how to get there.
Additionally, it seems as though the Worthy plan is not merely speculation. The first phase of the plan focuses on prescription drug reform. The plan is already active inside Blue Shield of California. The insurer changed its pharmacy model, moving away from the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) structure. Instead, Blue Shield of California partners with Amazon Pharmacy, Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Company, and Prime Therapeutics, among others. That change became the foundation for the Worthy initiative.
Plan in practice
Blue Shield of California rolled out a Digital Health Record (DHR) program, also now part of the Worthy Initiative, that improves care coordination and transparency. The DHR program in California includes sharing all patient data across providers and with the patient, giving patients a complete and real-time health record. According to Markovitch, interoperability is a meaningless term that allows providers to congratulate themselves for sharing slightly more data than before. His goal is to have a national standard for comprehensive digital health records that eliminates the need for any provider or patient to request records.
Working Together
Worthy presumes that the strategic pillars work together. Total reform doesn’t happen without each piece. Markovitch advocates for the responsible use of artificial intelligence to automate what can be automated. This includes, according to Markovitch, prior authorization, billing, provider directory updates, claims settlements, and routine patient questions.
Shared decision-making
The clinical model that the plan implies is one of shared decision-making. It involves both patient and physician having complete health records together with AI and other technology to gather all available information about a health condition. From there, the patient, loved ones, and all treating physicians work together to form a care plan. Markovitch calls for stronger legislation to move toward this kind of comprehensive care plan.
Worthy Vision
Patients over Profits
“Worthy will be advocating for passing a series of laws and enacting regulations that will force all the players to put patients over profits, that is, to do the right thing on behalf of each patient, every time, in order to have a health care business and to earn an income.”
– Paul Markovitch, CEO Ascendiun
Final Thoughts
We don’t know if the Worthy Initiative will gain any ground at the federal level. Likewise, we don’t know if Worthy will make substantive changes to the broken healthcare system. What we do know is that Worthy is, at a minimum, worthy of consideration as a means to overhaul a system that hasn’t truly been effective for a long time. If you agree, here are some links to get more information:
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Kristin Rowan is the owner and Editor-in-chief of The Rowan Report, the industry’s most trusted source for care at home news. She is also a sought-after speaker on Artificial Intelligence, Technology Adoption and Lone Worker Safety. She is available to speak at state and national conferences as well as software user-group meetings.
Kristin also runs Girard Marketing Group, a multi-faceted boutique marketing firm specializing in content creation, social media management, and event marketing. She works with care at home software providers to create dynamic content that increases conversions for direct e-mail, social media, and websites. Connect with Kristin directly at kristin@girardmarketinggroup.com or www.girardmarketinggroup.com
©2026 by The Rowan Report, Peoria, AZ. All rights reserved. This article originally appeared in The Rowan Report. One copy may be printed for personal use: further reproduction by permission only. editor@therowanreport.com
