Germany has encouraged wellness programs in a manner similar to the US. A new report from the Commonwealth Fund discusses results from the country's efforts and draws lessons that may…
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The latest annual report on e-prescribing from SureScripts reveals continued rapid growth. The report also details benefits which appear to flow from greater use of electronic prescribing and opportunities to…
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PWC's Health Research Institute is projecting that overall medical cost trend for employment-based health care coverage will be around 7.5% for 2013, which is identical to the number it currently…
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A new Agency for HealthCare Research and Quality Statistical Brief decomposes the sources of inpatient hospital cost increases from 1997 to 2008, which is important to understand given that hospital…
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The Express Scripts 2011 Drug Trend Report shows very low overall growth in drug spending, but continued sharp increases in the specialty sub-category. The firm presents interesting information and evidence…
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A Medscape survey of physicians gives statistics on compensation and compensation trend and reveals doctors' attitudes regarding their pay. While "healthy", physician compensation is not generally lavish and growth in…
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Summer is heating up and our Potpourri is smoking too, with nuggets on a silly provision in the final MLR rule; research on causes of readmissions, some within hospital control,…
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Research reported in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds that a comprehensive care management program for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had excess mortality, to the point that the trial was…
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Hospital unit prices appear to be the single largest cause of increased health spending, according to several lines of research. In a new report, the National Institute for Health Care…
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We are on the road, but our Potpourri remains, in this issue covering malpractice claims against doctors, wellness program outcomes, the effect of drinking coffee, do EHRs help improve care…
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Another report that looks at specialty drug spending is issued by the Center for Studying Health System Change. Due to different characteristics of this category, the authors are pessimistic about…
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I will be traveling the next two weeks so our posts will be less frequent. Todays focuses on workers' compensation and reviews an annual report put out by the Workers'…
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Milliman tracks the average cost of health care for a family and issues an annual report. The 2012 version is out, showing that average family costs are over $20,000 for…
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Among government health care programs, the Part D prescription drug benefit in Medicare has been extremely successful, costing less than projected. Beneficiaries also are satisfied with the program, which consists…
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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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