Deloitte's annual survey of consumers in six countries on health care issues provides some interesting insights on the citizens' health behaviors, concerns and perceptions of their health system.
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Fears have been expressed that increasing CDHP enrollment puts people at risk for skipping necessary health services. The GAO looked at this population and found healthier people enrolled and they…
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Research shows that allowing nurse anesthetists to do their jobs without physician supervision does not pose additional risk to patients. Regulations and laws which limit this ability should therefore be…
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A new study of the association between process of care measures and health outcomes for certain hospital episodes has encouraging results for pay for reporting and pay for performance programs.
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We have certainly labored over the Labor Day weekend version of the Potpourri, featuring relative performance of US and foreign medical school graduates, California health insurance hikes, non-for-profit hospital CEO…
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A Commonwealth Foundation Brief describes a "virtual ward" model developed in Great Britain to minimize hospitalizations for chronic disease patients. Early results are encouraging and similar models are being tried…
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Medicaid programs, and other third-party payers, can save a lot of money by requiring use of generics when available. Some state laws, however, can significantly inhibit generic use, according to…
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Deloitte puts out an Issue Brief touting the mobile personal health record as a key to reducing costs, primarily by better chronic condition management. There are a lot of barriers…
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The new health law attempts to dictate how much of insurance premiums insurers must spend on medical care, so of course there is now extensive haggling on defining the calculation.…
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A study of a medical home model indicates reductions in hospital admissions and readmissions and possibly a reduction in total spending. It is not clear, however, what the full economic…
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Summer nears an end, but not our Potpourris. This one includes the costs of malpractice, an innovative provider error disclosure program, employer wellness paybacks, blood pressure medication issues, the cost…
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Everyone is anxious to see the early effects of the reform law on health care costs. Another survey of large employer groups regarding their 2010 and 2011 expectations indicates that…
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It is well-established that physicians respond to various economic incentives by changing their treatment behavior. A recent study explores this phenomenon in the context of Medicare's cancer chemotherapy drug reimbursement…
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Palliative care has been extensively researched and the results indicate greater quality of life and patient satisfaction for persons with terminal illness. New research suggests it also extends survival.
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A study discusses trends in the use of emergency rooms. Medicaid beneficiaries are the vast majority of the increase in utilization, which may reflect poor access to primary care or…
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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.