Another Potpourri, this week delivering factoids on drug companies' use of technology to reach physicians, waiting times in Massachusetts, use of atypical antipsychotics in nursing homes, unnecessary colonoscopies, EMRs and…
Read More
Malpractice reform is stymied at the federal level and state efforts appear to have run out of steam, despite the likelihood that reform would significantly reduce wasteful spending. New approaches…
Read More
CMS' proposed rule and explanations for hospital payments for 2012 are lengthy but as usual give a great background on the issues that go into the payment elements. Hospital payments…
Read More
A new report surveyed physician practices on their experience with eprescribing systems, finding that while use was increasing some features were not often accessed because of system design and information…
Read More
A brief from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality looks at hospital charges in the United States, which accounted for 31% of total health care expenditures. Spending by payer…
Read More
Another edition of the Potpourri focuses on CMS and telemedicine, informal caregiver stress, wellness program results, emergency room visits, happiness and suicide, and sources for consumer health information.
Read More
New research examines the need to use care guidelines carefully, showing the danger of using generalized rules for all patients, and the benefit of tailoring those rules for individual circumstances.
Read More
A Kaiser Family Foundation report analyzes health care spending across a number of nations, confirming that we spend a lot more than most developed countries and that our growth rate…
Read More
Research published in JAMA examines the extent to which patients' health literacy is associated with heart failure outcomes, finding a connection in the case of all-cause mortality, but not with…
Read More
A WSJ article examines the likelihood that the myriad of health care cost control measures embedded in the reform law will actually reduce costs, concluding that it is unlikely they…
Read More