Health Affairs' theme for the current issue is primary care. An article looks at research on the extent to which primary care improves quality and lowers costs. Ambiguity reigns.
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Errors in medication are far more common than might be imagined and cause serious adverse events. A NEJM article reports on efforts to use technology to limit such errors in…
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The plight of the uninsured was used as one justification for reform. AHRQ has put out a report on trends in hospitalizations for the uninsured over the last ten years,…
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No mother's day would be complete without some health care news to ruminate on. This week's include psychiatric drugs, the cost of the SGR fix, home health care costs, telemedicine…
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Imaging services have been labeled one of the "bad boys" of health care, but a review of recently published studies shows that while there are negative aspects to use of…
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A study in JAMA explores hospital readmissions for Medicare beneficiaries, finding that there is significant variation in discharge planning and follow-up, and that early attention to care after discharge leads…
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Traditional telemedicine has expanded in recent years to include a variety of methods for patients to interact with physicians in real and delayed time, including email, secure messaging, and video…
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Specialist physicians are often blamed for the fragmented and expensive nature of American medical care. A perspective in the NEJM explores whether they might appropriately serve as principal physicians in…
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The Office of the Actuary in CMS, which is a highly credible group, paints a far less optimistic picture of the recent health law's effect than the Administration or Congressional…
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The latest in our weekend selection of health news and research developments, including any willing provider laws, emergency room visits, the link between insurance and health outcomes, hospital rankings and…
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Here's a novel idea--give patients a set amount of money to spend on health care needs and allow them to manage what services they use for that money. It is…
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Milliman, Inc. is a very prominent and capable actuarial firm which does excellent research on health care issues. The firm released a report on high, and low, value hospital regions,…
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The Commonwealth Fund, the Health Research & Educational Trust and the American Hospital Association issued an analysis of what contributes to a high performance hospital system in terms of patient…
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Price Waterhouse Cooper has published a number of interesting reports on aspects of health care. They are one of the first large service companies to forecast changes to the health…
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The new national health law poses a number of challenges for employers in regard to the health benefits they offer to their employees. A poll published in Business of Insurance…
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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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