End-of-life care discussions got some unwarranted and unwanted attention during the reform law debates, being characterized as "death panels". The discussions are important, however, to ensure consistency with patient preferences…
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One of the concerns around the continued wrangling over the long-term setting of physician compensation for services to Medicare beneficiaries is whether payment, and other aspects of the program, have…
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A survey of high-deductible health plan users finds that care is more likely to be deferred by enrollees in such plans as opposed to traditional ones, particularly low-income persons, but…
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Placebo and nocebo effects are just part of the broader topic of how patient perceptions about their health, illnesses and treatments may affect outcomes. An article in Current Directions in…
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Patient satisfaction surveys and scores are a large component in most pay-for-reporting, pay-for-performance and value-based purchasing programs, on the theory that patient satisfaction is linked to quality. A new study…
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President Obama, his administration and Congressional Democrats sold the health "reform" law in large part by claiming it would reduce health insurance premiums for average Americans, by $2000 they said,…
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Geographic variation in health care spending is an ongoing controversial topic primarily because the most significant implication is that many physicians have practice patterns that unnecessarily raise costs and changing…
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This week's Potpourri focuses on the cost of robotic surgery, the benefits of aspirin compared to more expensive drugs, the benefits of fitness club use, what states and specialties are…
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CMS has issued its latest proposal rule on Medicaid drug pricing and rebates. The proposal doesn't clear up all areas of uncertainty and will add administrative costs for manufacturers. It…
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The Massachusetts reform rolls on, with the state's residents generally still okay with the changes, although cost continues to be a problem. An article in Health Affairs sums up the…
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The Government Accountability Office issues a report on use of implantable medical devices in hospitals, finding that they pay widely varying prices, suggesting that it is often too much, some…
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SureScripts, the network which facilitates e-prescribing, released results from a study which showed benefits from use of e-prescribing in terms of better fill rates on prescriptions and better ongoing adherence.
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Another Potpourri brimming with doses of useful information that you eagerly await each week, including Medicare special needs plans and patients with diabetes, health information technology venture capital funding and…
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Another excellent paper from the Congressional Budget Office is issued, this one on Medicare's demonstration projects on value-based payments to providers. Once again, the demonstrations had very mixed results, with…
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One creation of the federal reform law was the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute. The Institute has released a draft of its proposed priorities for research, available for comment by…
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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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