A paper from the Bureau of Economic Analysis finds that consolidation in the physician marketplace leads to higher service prices for commercial health plans, but unlike most markets, these higher…
Read More
Time for another brief review of the "progress" of the federal health "reform" law, as the initial period of implementation has supposedly passed.
Read More
The second employee survey of the week comes from Towers Watson. It also focuses on retirement and health care issues.
Read More
A brief from the Employee Benefits Research Institute examines use of prescription drugs by enrollees in a high-deductible insurance plan, finding a greater percentage of generic prescriptions but in the…
Read More
Research published in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that continuity of care for Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries seems to reduce utilization and spending.
Read More
It is employee survey week!! First we look at results from a survey Mercer did of workers regarding retirement, health benefit and other matters.
Read More
An article in Health Services Research examines how hospitals respond to Medicare's lowering of reimbursement, finding that generally they lower their costs of providing service over time.
Read More
A Statistical Brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality describes characteristics of employment-based health insurance in 2012, based on Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data.
Read More
A new report from the Government Accounting Office gives details on the spread of Medicaid spending across all its beneficiaries, finding that, as for other payers, a relatively small set…
Read More
An Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality brief details inpatient hospital use in 2011 and trends since 1997.
Read More
The Rand Corporation surveyed physicians on behalf of the American Medical Association to ascertain issues relating to job satisfaction, with quality of care and health information technology at the top…
Read More
A Journal of the American Medical Association article summarizing a Cochrane review of home palliative care finds that it increases the likelihood of dying at home and having fewer symptoms…
Read More
An article from Sherlock Company describes favorable characteristics of independent or provider-sponsored health plans.
Read More
A systematic review of research on home care visits designed to keep older adults from being institutionalized finds little evidence that these interventions reduce mortality or increase independent living.
Read More
Some of the most important research in health care isn't about a particular topic, but about how to be sure research is valid. One researcher suggests that most findings from…
Read More
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.