Everyone is concerned about health spending growth, the primary cause of which is unit price increases. So why are obvious methods to reduce unit price of services, like substituting less-expensive…
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Research reported in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that a hospital pay-for-performance program in part of England may have led to reduced mortality for three conditions, with pneumonia…
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Thank God the election is finally over, but our Potpourri is never-ending, this week bringing you the latest on why comparative effectiveness research results don't translate to practice, innovations to…
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A brief from the Urban Institute examines the premium support proposal to reform Medicare, suggesting instead that Medicare Advantage be changed. This ideologically driven report ignores basic economics and the…
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Another consultant's report on the American health system, this one from KPMG and focusing on the supposed transformation from a volume-based system to one founded on value. While leaders of…
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Another paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, this one examining consumer behavior in the context of the Medicare Part D exchange and finding that beneficiary inertia seems to…
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The Dartmouth Atlas project has made its name by studying regional variations in health care utilization, spending and quality, with a core finding that substantial variation exists which does not…
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Another installment of our non-award winning (are there any potential awards?) Potpourri, this one examining drug costs for conditions of aging, self-referral in imaging, in home palliative care at the…
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Our last episode for the week of health spending is a useful report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which provides an analysis of health expenditures in the United States, focusing…
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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.