Research carried in Health Affairs finds that a program of home visits for very complex patients can reduce use of inpatient hospital and ER services.
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And in yet another study in Health Affairs indicating the harms of hospital consolidation of medical services, ambulatory surgery centers raised prices much less in the last few years than did hospital outpatient departments providing the same services.
http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/34/10/1753.abstractMore from the maybe we don't really know what we think we know department; after decades of complaining about excessive Cesarean deliveries, new research published in JAMA indicates that higher rates of such deliveries are associated with lower baby and mother mortality.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2473490PriceWaterhouseCooper's Health Research Institute tells us what to watch for in 2016.
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A Statistical Brief from AHRQ compares hospitalizations in fee-for-service Medicare and in Medicare Advantage plans.
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A Commonwealth Fund report analyzes the efficacy of various initiatives to better manage care for high-cost patients.
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Research in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that an intervention to lessen use of "low-value" services, in this case, imaging for back pain or headache or bone density testing, by using fake patients and then counseling young physicians, did not work. Maybe we should rely more on doctors' judgment about the value of services and maybe we should recognize their risk-aversion, given the malpractice world they live in.
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=2472948Troubled revenue cycle management firm Accretive has received lifeline financing and a long-term contract from a group headed by hospital chain Ascension Health.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20151208/NEWS/151209891?utm_source=modernhealthcare&utm_medium=email&utm_content=20151208-NEWS-151209891&utm_campaign=amAbout this Blog
The Healthy Skeptic is a website about the health care system, and is written by Kevin Roche, who has many years of experience working in the health industry. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements through Roche Consulting, LLC and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.