Two studies in Health Affairs find that chronic disease prevalence is probably higher than assumed and that the reform law's insurance expansion may lead to more diagnosis of these diseases.
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Medicare requires a three-day hospital stay to get coverage for subsequent skilled nursing care, which seems silly, and research published in Health Affairs shows no difference in number of admissions or length of stay at hospitals and skilled nursing facilities between Medicare Advantage plans that enforce the rule and those that waive it.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/34/8/1324.abstractUniversal Health Services, a large hospital chain, is buying Foundations Recovery Network, an addiction treatment firm, for $350 million.
http://www.businessinsider.com/ap-universal-health-services-buying-foundations-for-350m-2015-9?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=22185080&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_6mP52dacF0bQacAC84HyM824yKuK_Qba5pzZQ3-nQtinjkyD2HpdXXYi6_qT5fqWj-REss0vYGY4yQtYrVuwu_UJfsGniQM0Z2hsjv3HfLygw9-k&_hsmi=22185080DaVita, through its troubled HealthCare Partners division, is buying the Everett Clinic, a large Washington state physician group.
http://www.denverpost.com/business/ci_28848150/davita-to-buy-seattlearea-primary-specialty-physicians-group?utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=22185080&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9JE_8Rud5lT9MW8J9EGVVopLdzPcc1p-VVM9wsYa90HNsNXeywEMeNfkT-8x-H8p8ARXUIxk4FVkihKe-tJzG9p5dzKu3GdHmjvHVeCU-4fedxgbM&_hsmi=22185080IMS' Institute for Healthcare Informatics issues a report on the use and value of mobile health apps.
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A SullivanCotter survey finds that primary care physician compensation increased 3.4% in 2015 and specialty physician compensation by 2.3%, with urgent care and psychiatry seeing the largest increases and anesthesiology, radiology and neurology the lowest. Orthopedic surgeons had the highest compensation.
http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/compensation-issues/2015-physician-total-cash-compensation-by-specialty.htmlEverything is coming up roses for Clover Health, lucky as can be with a $100 million fundraising for its "data-driven health plan" model for Medicare members. We will see how lucky the investors are feeling in a couple of years.
http://techcrunch.com/2015/09/17/clover-health-a-data-driven-health-insurance-startup-raises-100m/#.oqnxb8:j4fdResearch published in Health Affairs digs a little further into the dynamics of patients who tend to be responsible for a high percentage of all health spending.
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