Health Affairs publishes several studies addressing inappropriate use of the emergency room, finding that many visits could be dealt with in other settings, but that higher copays may not deter…
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The meaningful use provisions of the stimulus bill provide incentive payments to providers who implement EMRs, and ultimately penalties for those who don't or who don't use those systems in…
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Not much is hotter in health care than wireless/mobile functionality and how it may affect many aspects of care delivery and health management. A PWC report looks at trends, opportunities…
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The Kaiser Foundation released results of its annual survey of health insurance costs among companies providing health benefits to workers. The most prominent finding is the continued shift of cost…
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The Office of Actuary publishes its current estimate of national health spending in the wake of health reform. It finds that the law will slightly increase spending, but there is…
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Fall is a lovely time of year and what could be better than relaxing with a Potpourri, featuring health insurance increases, the true costs of EHRs, hospital pay-for-performance programs and…
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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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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.