October already!! Our 39th Potpourri of the year has many autumnal pleasures including selections on CMS' Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative, a proposed guidance for FDA to use for mHealth regulation,…
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In another piece of research related to hospital readmissions, the Dartmouth Atlas project released a report on variations in readmission patterns across the country and among academic medical centers. Possible…
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The final look at the Kaiser employer health benefit survey examines findings on prescription drug coverage, wellness programs, retiree health plans, funding mechanisms and the effect of health care reform.
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The second part of our review of the Kaiser employer health benefits survey discusses employee contributions to premiums and employee cost-sharing trends, along with developments in high-deductible plans with savings…
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The annual Kaiser Foundation report on employment-based health coverage finds a rapid growth in per person and per family costs in 2009, but relative stability in the number of persons…
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We enter the year's home stretch with a great Potpourri, focusing on comparison friction in Part D plan shopping, a Harris poll on health-related internet use, the effect of aging…
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A new Rand report explores the use of health information technology to assist consumers in managing their health and making decisions about health care coverage. As health care coverage changes,…
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As Medicare pays more and more of the nation's total health bill, its decisions on what products and services it will reimburse for are more significant for vendors and for…
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Increased disease prevalence has been hypothesized to be behind much of the growth in health spending. New research published in Health Affairs finds that prevalence growth accounts for little of…
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Maryland is unique among the states in having an all-payer hospital rate regulation system. The most recent report on the system's performance shows that it is continuing to constrain the…
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Another wonderful collection of health care research summaries, including a GAO report on likely effects of the MLR rule, physician work intensity, reducing hospital-acquired infections, discharge followup and hospital readmissions,…
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A Kaiser Family Foundation report surveys state managed care Medicaid programs, finding a surge in utilization of health plans and addition of eligibility categories to the plans. A great variety…
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A paper prepared by Mathematica for the New York State Health Foundation discussions readmissions in the state and evaluates proposed methods of reducing those readmissions. Just in New York, billions…
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Hospitals and other providers have expressed concern that health plan consolidation jeopardizes the adequacy of reimbursement to providers but a new piece of research indicates that hospital consolidation is a…
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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.
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