All Posts By

Kevin Roche

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 through Roche Consulting, LLC. Mr. Roche is available to assist health care companies through consulting arrangements and may be reached at khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.

Dec 02 2013

The excellent Altarum Institute index on health inflation showed only a 1% year-over-year increase in September, with even hospital prices rising only at 1.5%.  Utilization increased 2.7% on a per capita basis.  The bad news is that overall health spending in real terms continues to outpace economic growth.

http://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/CSHS-Price-Brief_November%202013.pdf
Dec 02 2013

Towers Watson has purchased private health insurance exchange vendor Liazon to add to its capabilities and to its earlier purchase of Extend Health.  All of the large benefits consultants are aggressively engaged in providing this capability to clients.

http://eba.benefitnews.com/health-insurance-exchange/news/towers-watson-private-exchange-advantages-of-liazon-purchase-2737820-1.html?gpt_units=/HIX&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=utm_hix_112613&hix
Dec 02 2013

Displaying the cost of lab tests in an EHR led to a reduction in orders for the tests by primary care physicians, according to research in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11606-013-2672-1
Dec 02 2013

iVantage Health Analytics, which serves primarily hospitals, has acquired Xylem Consulting to boost its capabilities in helping health systems with payer contract negotiation and analysis.

http://www.healthdatamanagement.com/news/analytics-vendor-acquisitions-hospital-knowledge-taking-risk-46937-1.html?ET=healthdatamanagement:e4080:3722900a:&st=email&utm_source=editorial&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=HDM_DAILY_112713_112613
Dec 02 2013

The number of issues relating to the reform law is embarrassing and we don't want to appear to be piling on by mentioning them all, but the Administration has had to delay by a year the program to allow small business to purchase health insurance on the health exchange.

http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20131127/NEWS/311279950?AllowView=VDl3UXpKSzRDUE9CbkJiYkY0M3hla0tyaUVVZEQrWT0=&utm_source=link-20131127-NEWS-311279950&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=hits&utm_name=top
Dec 02 2013

CVS Caremark is buying the home infusion of Apria Healthcare, Coram, for about $2.1 billion.  This will make CVS the largest provider of home infusion and a bigger player in specialty drugs.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-11-27/cvs-agrees-to-buy-apria-s-coram-unit-for-2-1-billion.html
Dec 02 2013

More trouble for the formulation of CMS' quality measures, as a University of Michigan study finds that that the data used by Medicare to compare hospitals on how well they do at preventing bedsores is seriously flawed and inaccurate, since in some cases it is based on claims data and in some cases on actual nurse bedside exams.

http://www.uofmhealth.org/news/archive/201310/hospital-report-cards-hospital-acquired-bedsores-how-good
Dec 02 2013

A study at Duke finds that an intervention to improve medication adherence by patients after a hospital stay did a good job at that but did not significantly affect readmissions.

http://hin.com/Healthcare_Business_Weekly_Update/2013/11/25/staying-on-medication-%20%20may-not-lower-hospital-readmissions/
Nov 29 2013

OIG Strategic Plan 2014

http://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/strategic-plan/files/OIG-Strategic-Plan-2014-2018.pdf
Nov 29 2013

The HHS Office of Inspector General releases its annual strategic plan, which is must reading for anyone involved with Medicare, Medicaid or other government programs.  EHRs will be a focus of investigations.

http://oig.hhs.gov/reports-and-publications/strategic-plan/files/OIG-Strategic-Plan-2014-2018.pdf
Nov 29 2013

According to a statement by the publicity department at CMS, Medicare beneficiaries saved about $3 billion in drug costs this year due to the reform law's gradual closing of the "donut" hole.

http://cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-Releases/2013-Press-Releases-Items/2013-11-26.html
Nov 29 2013

According to a Mercer survey of large employers, health care insurance costs per employee have risen 4.5% this year and the employers expect a larger increase next year.

http://www.latimes.com/business/money/la-fi-mo-employer-healthcare-costs-20131126,0,5748812.story#axzz2lqNSNZ4i
Nov 29 2013

HHS has released the final rule on the tax on health insurance plans, which will be passed on to consumers in the form of higher premiums.

http://www.ofr.gov/OFRUpload/OFRData/2013-28412_PI.pdf