The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality releases a report on how to best communicate and disseminate information for patients and providers on treatment options.
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A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research takes an interesting look at the effect of cost-sharing on utilization of health services.
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Health Affairs published yet another piece of research showing wide variation in hospital pricing, probably related to market power and little relation between high prices and high quality.
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A paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research suggests, somewhat contrary to common belief, that overall public health improves during an economic downturn.
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A Brookings Institution paper examines the effect of the health reform law on various income groups, with the surprising finding that middle income people get a pretty good whack from…
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A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care looks at rates of self-referral to specialists.
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A large study done in Canada over 25 years and reported in the British Medical Journal suggests that mammography screening does not lower death rates from breast cancer and likely results in unnecessary treatment which can cause harm to the women receiving it.
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/02/12/health/study-adds-new-doubts-about-value-of-mammograms.htmlWhat better time than Valentine's Day to describe the intense love affair physicians have with their electronic medical records, according to a survey by Medical Economics. Regrets, they have a…
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Welltok, the health and wellness tool company, has received $22 million in additional financing, led in part by the IBM venture fund.
http://medcitynews.com/2014/02/welltok-raises-22m-ibms-watson-makes-first-digital-health-investment/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2d0ae4cb49-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-2d0ae4cb49-67648197PM Pediatrics, a builder and operator of clinics to provide pediatric services in off-hours, has raised $14 million to support growth.
http://medcitynews.com/2014/02/pediatric-group-offers-care-night-weekends-raises-14-million/?utm_source=MedCity+News+Subscribers&utm_campaign=2d0ae4cb49-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c05cce483a-2d0ae4cb49-67648197A study in JAMA looks at hospital readmissions after discharge from inpatient rehabilitation units, finding an overall rate of around 12% for leading conditions with substantial variation across facilities and regions. Many of these patients appear to be in a downward cycle which is hard to interrupt.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1829684A recent study in Health Affairs indicates that value-based insurance designs, at least in regard to drugs, may improve adherence but not save money.
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According to a GlobalData report the market for electronic medical records will hit $17 billion in 2017. McKesson is the current market leader at $3.3 billion in sales for 2012, followed by Cerner at $2.7 billion and Allscripts at $1.5 billion.
http://drugstorenews.com/article/report-market-electronic-health-records-reach-17-billion-2017About 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.