The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has issued a report looking at use of clinical decision support and knowledge management systems, finding some evidence for positive health and cost…
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Use of emergency rooms is monitored as a potential indicator of access and quality problems. A recent study from the American College of Emergency Room Physicians analyses trends in both…
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It is officially the start of summer and our Potpourri is hot, hot, hot, but not steamy! This week we cover why health care IT doesn't seem to create productivity…
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The American Medical Association regularly assesses the administrative performance of the large health plans on issues relevant to physicians. This year's report finds significant improvement in claims payment procedures and…
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When the Congressional Budget Office and the Board of Trustees of the Medicare trust funds make projections about future Medicare expenditures and revenues, they are required to utilize current law,…
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Our next report related to consumer-directed, high deductible health insurance plans comes from the Employee Benefit Research Institute and describes the characteristics of people in these plans over the years…
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This week we will discuss several high deductible insurance plan reports. The first is from America's Health Insurance Plans and gives information on details of enrolllment and plan types.
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Our Potpourri resumes, with information on consumer trust of insurers and providers, consumer use of online health information, price transparency in health care, imaging rates in integrated health care systems…
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The latest projection on national health spending from the CMS Office of the Actuary is out and published in Health Affairs. It suggests that the very modest reduction in growth…
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Germany has encouraged wellness programs in a manner similar to the US. A new report from the Commonwealth Fund discusses results from the country's efforts and draws lessons that may…
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The latest annual report on e-prescribing from SureScripts reveals continued rapid growth. The report also details benefits which appear to flow from greater use of electronic prescribing and opportunities to…
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PWC's Health Research Institute is projecting that overall medical cost trend for employment-based health care coverage will be around 7.5% for 2013, which is identical to the number it currently…
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A new Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality Statistical Brief decomposes the sources of inpatient hospital cost increases from 1997 to 2008, which is important to understand given that hospital…
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The Express Scripts 2011 Drug Trend Report shows very low overall growth in drug spending, but continued sharp increases in the specialty sub-category. The firm presents interesting information and evidence…
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A Medscape survey of physicians gives statistics on compensation and compensation trend and reveals doctors' attitudes regarding their pay. While "healthy", physician compensation is not generally lavish and growth in…
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