Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine finds that having surgery for a knee meniscus tear has no better outcomes than fake surgery.
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Streamline Health, which provides knowledge management systems to health care industry participants, has agreed to acquire Unibase Systems, which offers patient access software.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/streamline-health-signs-definitive-agreement-to-acquire-unibased-systems-architecture-inc-240614191.htmlVeria Living, which provides a multiplatform approach to health and wellness information, has acquired dLife, which provides information and a social community for patients with diabetes.
http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/veria-living-expands-role-in-health-wellness-space-with-dlife-acquisition-240487401.htmlA perspective in the New England Journal of Medicine points out that although the Medicare physician value-based purchasing program starts this year, doctors generally are unprepared and unengaged and there are more issues with this program than the comparable one for hospitals, including a lack of predecessor programs, sample size and measure issues and reward/penalty design.
http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1311957Research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association finds that severely obese patients who underwent bariatric surgery generally had significant weight loss in the three years following surgery, but other outcomes related to diabetes, blood pressure and lipids were more variable.
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1765797The Massachusetts Health Policy Commission issues its annual report on cost trends, finding that almost a decade after reform was initiated in the state, costs are still high, not well-controlled…
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A study in the journal Stress and Health finds that people with private or no insurance had lower levels of psychological stress than those with public coverage like Medicare or Medicaid and people with a change in insurance coverage status in the last year also had higher levels of stress, but the relationship is modest, and other factors likely play a larger role in an individual's stress level.
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/smi.2559/abstract;jsessionid=8AE44052E68FAF08869C1777A92E4EFD.f02t02General Electric's health care division is acquiring API Healthcare, a vendor of human resources management software for hospitals and health systems.
http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/ge-healthcare-to-acquire-api-healthcare-47120-1.html?utm_campaign=daily-jan%2022%202014&utm_medium=email&utm_source=newsletterUnder the current Medicare Advantage plan payment methodology, plans receive more for sicker enrollees, but research in the Journal of Health Economics finds no evidence plans are selecting for these…
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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.