The annual CMS Office of the Actuary report on national health spending, covering 2016, has been issued.
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New work from Stanford scientists helps identify patients most likely to die and therefore be good candidates for palliative care.
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A study in the journal Health Services Research finds that drug-eluting stents were taken up by cardiologists faster in markets in which there was greater competition among cardiologists, but hospital market structure appeared to have little impact on diffusion rates.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27196678A report from Rising Medical looks at trends in workers' compensation claims.
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Large Chicago area health system Advocate is merging with Milwaukee-based Aurora Health, in another deal that should be rejected on competitive grounds.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20171204/NEWS/171209965?utm_source=modernhealthcare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20171204-NEWS-171209965&utm_campaign=financedailyUnitedHealth Group is buying the medical clinic business of DaVita Health for $4.9 billion, bringing to a close a difficult chapter for DaVita, which struggled to make its acquisition of that business work. Another example of stick to your knitting. And UHG continue to expand its provider footprint, which makes sense if it lowers costs for UHG health plans and if the businesses can be effectively managed.
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealth-buy-davitas-medical-unit-120715969.htmlA research letter in JAMA Internal Medicine examines consumer behavior when covered by a high-deductible health plan.
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