Inpatient hospital costs are the largest single category of health care costs and account for much of the last decade’s rapid annual rise in health care spending. A statistical brief from the HCUP project examines components of hospital costs to ascertain sources of growth. Cost per stay is the largest single cause of rising hospital inpatient costs.
Another excellent draft report from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality reviews the evidence related to the effects of bundled payments to providers on quality and costs. The evidence, while weak, suggests that utilization and costs decline and quality is not notably affected in either direction.
Disease registries are used to track a number of patients with a common condition to determine factors which affect their outcomes and to help guide their treatment. An article in Health Affairs reviews a number of disease registries in several countries, finding that they have a high potential to improve overall quality.
Another scintillating Potpourri, focused on the effect of copayments on prescription adherence, use of PHRs in the FEHBP plans, doctors use of cancer drugs after a Medicare reimbursement change, visiting physicians after a hospital discharge, consumers expectations regarding health insurance and early experience with bundled payments.
An intriguing concept is explored in a paper from Deloitte: would it be possible to move some services typically delivered in a hospital to the patient’s home. Based on pilot’s in Australia, the paper suggests that savings can be achieved, with no apparent threat to quality or patient safety.
Obesity is often fingered as a leading cause of health care spending and health spending growth. It also causes significant personal discomfort to those who are overweight. A pair of articles in the NEJM describe the outcomes of interventions to help patients lose weight.
The most recent survey by the Center for Studying Health System Change shows not just plateauing, but an actual decline in consumers health information-seeking behavior, across all consumers. It is unclear what may be responsible for this decrease.
Both providers and consumers are increasingly subjected to positive and negative inducements to behave in certain ways. An article in the International Journal of Behavioral Medicine explores some possible behavioral and ethical rules for the design of patient-oriented incentive programs.
The holiday shopping season is in full swing but our Potpourri is free, filled with useful data on high-deductible health plans and utilization, Medicare Advantage plan Stars bonuses, drug complications and hospitalizations, physician office visit trends, premium increases, and patient expectations.
The Kaiser Foundation looks at proposals to revamp Medicare’s cost-sharing design, including possible changes to Medigap benefits, finding that changes could save billions for the program and reduce costs for many beneficiaries.
A Press Ganey report describes trends in patient satisfaction for hospitals, outpatient departments, emergency rooms, physicians and home care and lists top priorities for patients in improving their experience of care.
Pricing for drugs is an arcane world. The Office of Inspector General has attempted to shed light on pricing benchmarks and methodologies and in a new report tries to provide guidance to state Medicaid programs on how to minimize what they pay for drugs used by the programs’ beneficiaries.
A new report by Rand Corp. researchers published in the American Journal of Managed Care finds rapid growth in the use of retail clinics and identifies some of the factors associated with their use.
A new paper at the National Bureau of Economic Research examines the relationship between technology and spending growth in health care. While no firm conclusions are reached, a country’s willingness to spend on health may drive technology development and use rather than vice versa.
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 [email protected].
© 2024 Healthy Skeptic.
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