A study of 30 primary care physician practices, published in JAMIA, finds that implementation of an EHR was associated with lower productivity through seeing less patients, but also with higher revenue, because more services, primarily procedures and tests. This may lead to an increase in ROI for an EHR but also implies they are associated with higher health spending.
http://jamia.bmj.com/content/early/2014/08/27/amiajnl-2014-002686.abstractA study in Health Affairs analyzes hospital admissions and Readmissions for patients covered by Medicaid.
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The S & P Healthcare Claims Index shows rapid growth in health cost trend for the individual market, both overall and for drugs, with rises well in excess of 10% and far greater than group coverage cost trends.
http://www.worldcongress.com/events/HR15000/PDF/HR15000_WP_S&P_Healthcare_Claims_Indices_Market_Snapshot.pdfA brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality looks at trends in health care spending for the elderly.
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A study done by NBC News finds that surgery prices have been rising fairly rapidly. About a 100 million procedures are performed a year in the US, at a per capita rate 50% above that in Europe and with a cost of $500 billion. There is enormous variation in prices in the same region and costs for many common surgeries are up over 500% since 2009.
http://www.wrcbtv.com/story/26415093/surgery-prices-surge-with-innovation-and-consolidation-under-obamacareBest Doctors, which helps consumers find and rates physicians, has purchased Rise Medical, which provides population health management services.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20140903/NEWS/309039943?AllowView=VDl3UXk1T3dDdmVCbkJiYkY0M3hlMHFwakVVZER1VT0=&utm_source=link-20140903-NEWS-309039943&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=topIf you think that state employees have gold-plated health coverage, you are right according to a study from Pew and the MacArthur Foundation.
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Referral management software vendor Clarity has raised $1.89 million in new capital.
http://medcitynews.com/2014/09/physician-referral-software-co-uses-1-8m-expand-service-ny-mass-practices/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=a35e6e3534-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-a35e6e3534-67648197Before ACOs, CMS ran the Medicare Physician Group Practice demonstration, which showed minor cost savings and quality improvements.
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About 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.