A report from Express Scripts provides an updated look at drug utilization by enrollees in exchange plans.
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Reference pricing is gaining ground as a technique to control variation in provider costs for the same service. A brief from the National Institute for Health Care Reform finds that…
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A survey in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that most hospitals agree that public reporting on performance measures stimulates quality improvement at their hospital, but quality officers and others are less like to agree with this than are CEOs. Those most involved and most knowledgeable seem the least impressed by the value of quality reporting.
http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1910548&utm_source=Silverchair%20Information%20Systems&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=ArchivesofInternalMedicine%3AOnlineFirst10%2F06%2F2014&utm_campaign=KHN%3A+Daily+Health+Policy+Report&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=14451240&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-9fmQSRGEpFLBEW7qWx7YsFqlaxVv6WVDY-ztx1zYM40OKuBfkHOOoisYmKIW2Ng-DMDwxOHBWb43dDFekA9x73wZRlEw&_hsmi=14451240TowersWatson says that users of its private health insurance exchange can expect total health spending growth of just 1.8% in 2015, but don't provide adjustments for benefit design changes or differences in the population using exchanges.
http://www.towerswatson.com/en/Press/2014/10/oneexchange-for-active-employees-holds-health-care-cost-increases-to-just-1-pt-8-percent-in-2015An Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality statistical brief compares health insurance costs for private and government employees.
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After a long and difficult courtship Kindred and Gentiva are merging to create a home care giant in a deal worth $1.8 billion.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20141009/NEWS/310099938?AllowView=VDl3UXk1SzVDdjJCbkJiYkY0M3hla09waGtVZENlND0=&utm_source=link-20141009-NEWS-310099938&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=mpdaily&utm_name=topAs we head into the second year of exchange enrollment, a review of the effects of the health reform law seems in order.
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