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 but their comparative benefits or risks have not been proven in clinical trials.
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 the near future.
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 providers are unlikely to be sustainable and may reduce beneficiaries’ access to services.
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 to paint a fairly dire picture.
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 spending and coughing into cell phones–yes you heard me right.
Interesting reports on specialty pharmacy, drug benefits, drug sales and the IMS buyout.
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, which is consistent with innovation, especially technologic innovation, being found to be a major health cost driver in other studies.
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 approaches reduced hospitalizations and death.
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. The United States lags other developed nations in many areas.
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 after several years.
Yet another installment of the weekend health care miscellany that you are undoubtedly growing fond of.
The Office of Inspector General issues a work plan every year which gives guidance on potential areas of mismanagement, fraud and abuse in federal programs. This year’s plan reveals continuing focus on hospital and nursing home payments and drug reimbursement.
The General Accounting Office gives its perspective on the viability of the per capita method of physician resource use profiling by Medicare and provides useful insight into the topic of variable physician practice patterns.
Researchers at the University of California suggest that if workers’ compensation medical care were moved to general health insurance, the administrative savings would pay for expanded access in reform bills.
CMS released its rule changes for physician payments in Medicare. Significant cuts are set forth in the rule’s 1669 pages, sure to spark a strong response from the physician community and Congress.
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].
© 2023 Healthy Skeptic.
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