AHRQ issues a statistical brief examining the costs of end-of-life care. About one-third of American's who die do so in a hospital, at an average cost two-and-a-half times greater than…
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Another summary of miscellaneous health care items, including telemedicine and prevention and wellness.
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The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has released a policy brief examining the potential of accountable care organizations to remedy the health system's ills. The brief concludes that ACOs will not…
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The CBO analyzes the most recent Senate health reform bill, finding it would increase coverage to 94% of Americans and reduce the deficit over the next ten years, but the…
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The ECRI Institute released a report advising payers on technologies to watch for in 2010, including genetic testing, imaging technologies, orthopedic devices and EHRs and PHRs. Most are very expensive…
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Deloitte issues one of its periodic reports on retail clinics, finding that growth has slowed, if not stopped, but payer and consumer acceptance has increased. Deloitte anticipates renewed growth in…
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The CMS Office of the Actuary zings the House bill, finding it will likely increase total national health care spending, its proposed savings from cuts in payments to Medicare institutional…
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Thomson Reuters and the AHA release updated reports on hospitals, Thomson showing that their revenues and profits are improving, as are credit availability and investment portfolios, while the AHA continues…
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Another dose of weekend tidbits, covering PAP screenings, health insurer consolidation, Part D plan satisfaction, Rand's look at the best methods to reduce health care costs, geographic variations in health…
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Interesting reports on specialty pharmacy, drug benefits, drug sales and the IMS buyout.
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A study reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine tried to find medical innovations that significantly lowered costs, with only minor reduction in quality or outcome. Very few were found,…
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The Journal of the American College of Cardiology published a meta-analysis of usual care for heart failure patients versus regular telephone follow-up or remote electronic monitoring, finding that the latter…
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The Commonwealth Fund supported a survey of primary care physicians in several countries to compare their use of health IT, the availability of incentives, patient payment issues and other matters.…
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The American Medical Group Association conducts a survey on EHR usage by physician groups, revealing the difficulty in implementation, and high expectations in value, which tended to be met only…
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Yet another installment of the weekend health care miscellany that you are undoubtedly growing fond of.
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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.