Health Affairs publishes a study with a creative approach to understanding hospital costs, hospital pricing, Medicare payments and market power. The authors' conclusion is that profitable hospitals have higher expenses…
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To the delight of some and the dismay of many, the health "reform" bill has passed and been signed. Very few Americans, or Congresspeople, understand what is in the bill…
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MedPAC had outside researchers look at the effects of paying all physician services in the United States under the Medicare fee schedule. Changes in that schedule were supposed to be…
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Hospitals have increasingly become the hub for medical services in many communities. Trends relating to hospitals are therefore of significant interest. A recent article gives a perspective on some of…
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Because physicians ultimately control so much of health care spending, understanding variations in their patterns of practice is important. A NEJM article examines the reliability and accuracy of physician profiling…
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Many telehealth, ehealth, mhealth, etc. product companies have assumed that their products and services will move easily through the FDA or that they don't even need to interact with the…
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Towers Watson is a large employee benefits consulting firm which regularly surveys companies regarding their health plan and related offerings. The latest survey offers insights on trends in plan design…
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More weekend reading, in case spring hasn't arrived where you are, covering personalized medicine, the OIG's unheeded recommendations, robot surgery, hospital costs, venture funding and telemedicine.
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With the stimulus money and Medicare incentives, electronic health record vendors are riding high. But many, many questions remain regarding the implementation, use and value of these systems in reducing…
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While spending on prescription drugs has stabilized over the last few years, it remains a major category of health cost and pharmaceuticals are a critical and effective treatment option for…
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Communications and information technology has an increasingly critical role in health care and in the future vision of health care delivery and administration. The FCC has been tasked with facilitating…
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Use of imaging services has become the poster child for health care spending problems, even though excessive imaging may have been rather rapidly controlled by private sector use of imaging…
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We may or may not be nearing the end game of health care reform, at least as currently proposed by the Administration. Whether it passes or not, the problems of…
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One more sampling of health care news, covering provider reaction to the EHR meaningful use rule, telemedicine, people's perceptions of their health status and insurance coverage and hospital costs and…
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Physicians control almost all the utilization and spending in health care. Patients often ask or even demand some health services, which they often don't need or which are not appropriate…
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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.