A Pew report relating to medical care in prisons finds that states are increasingly burdened by these expenses and are searching for ways to better control this rapidly growing spending.
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Medseek, a provider of software to hospitals and other provider organizations, has acquired SymphonyCare, which offers population health management tools for providers. This acquisition is part of the ongoing trend for HIT vendors to offer broader wellness and care management solutions to providers, particularly those at risk for care costs.
http://medseek.com/news/medseek-acquires-symphonycareInventiv has acquired medication adherence firm Catalina Health and will combine it with its Adheris unit to improve patient specific messaging around drug use.
http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131101/NEWS/311019949?AllowView=VW8xUmo5Q21TcWJOb1gzb0tNN3RLZ0h0MWg5SVgra3NZRzROR3l0WWRMWGFWZjBBRWxiNUtpQzMyWmFxNTMwWUpiaW8=&utm_source=link-20131101-NEWS-311019949&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=topA report from the Optum Institute provides another look at data related to geographic variation in important health outcomes, especially quality and spending.
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According to the National Federation for Independent Business, 64% of small businesses are continuing to see higher premiums in the wake of the reform law, even after benefit changes, and the increases affect investment and hiring.
http://www.nfib.com/research-foundation/studies/aca-2013?utm_campaign=ACAStudy&utm_source=Research&utm_medium=Release&utm_content=aca2013According to Levin Associates health care M & A activity was up 16% in the third quarter of 2013 over the second quarter and 20% over the comparable period in 2012. The 267 transactions, however, had a 35% greater value than the prior year third quarter deals. Biotech, pharmaceutical, medical device, long-term care and hospitals were very active sub-sectors.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20131023005141/en/Health-Care-MA-Spending-Softens-Q3-2013A new CBO report finds that raising the Medicare eligibility age to 67 would only save around $2 billion a year for the next ten years, but that is because it assumes that Medicaid and subsidies under the reform law would have to pick up much of the cost for the 65 and 66 year olds who couldn't enroll. The real savings is actually over $60 billion in that period. Raising both the social security and Medicare eligibility age is inevitable and the right thing to do, as life expectancies and ability to work have both grown significantly since enactment of the laws.
http://www.cbo.gov/publication/44661Health care related "apps" are all the rage, particularly on mobile devices. A report from the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics examines the current status of and issues related to…
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Research in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association found that about half of eprescribing alerts were ignored and about half of the ignored ones were inappropriate, but often not serious. Nonetheless this suggests a need for refining the alerts.
http://jamia.bmj.com/content/early/2013/10/28/amiajnl-2013-001813.short?g=w_jamia_ahead_tabA paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research explores the relationship between changes in Medicare reimbursement and private health plan provider payments.
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An article in the journal Surgery finds that assessing patients' health literacy before treatment increases patient satisfaction and that only about 20% of patients had adequate health literacy before the assessment and corrective action.
http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0039606013005424About 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.
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