An early spring for much of the country and our latest Potpourri is in full bloom, with nuggets on health information exchanges, genetic testing guidelines, an employer survey on reform,…
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Physicians are as aware as anyone of the need to control health spending. Several physician specialty associations have released lists of procedures or treatments that consumers and doctors should question…
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A new study from the National Bureau of Economics finds that greater levels of education are associated with better health behaviors, without regard to specific knowledge of health risks or…
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One of the theories behind geographic variation in health spending analysis is that there are areas where high rates of inappropriate care delivery exist, leading to higher spending. A new…
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Makes sense that paying for better delivery of quality care would improve outcomes, but the research so far doesn't support that notion. The latest evidence is a study in the…
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Welcome to another Potpourri of health information, focusing on workers' comp medical prices, cost-sharing on asthma meds, the Medicare Advantage program, doctors' experience of quality improvement programs, a review of…
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Every year the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission puts out a report on its views on the current state of Medicare, its major issues and recommendations to Congress and the Centers…
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End-of-life care accounts for a large fraction of health spending. Often decisions regarding such care are made by surrogates and new research published in the Annals of Internal Medicine suggest…
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As ObamaCare meets judgment at the Supreme Court, evidence about the effect of its predecessor in Massachusetts continues to be amassed. A new paper from the National Bureau of Economic…
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A new report from the Commonwealth Fund tracks performance of local health care systems across the United States, finding as much as a two to three times variation across the…
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Spring is in the air but take a few minutes to refresh with our latest Potpourri, which includes the Congressional Budget Office's latest health reform projections, ER use by those…
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A review article in the American Journal of Managed Care summarizes the evidence to date on medical homes. The results look modestly promising, with evidence of improving quality of care,…
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A crucial question in the next few years is what will happen with employer-sponsored health care coverage in the wake of the reform law's full implementation. A new survey from…
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We would all like to believe that spending more on health care means we would have better outcomes and healthier people. Most research on the topic to date has suggested…
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Can all the public reporting on provider quality and cost performance actually be used by consumers to make good choices for their health care services? That is the question explored…
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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.