We have certainly labored over the Labor Day weekend version of the Potpourri, featuring relative performance of US and foreign medical school graduates, California health insurance hikes, non-for-profit hospital CEO…
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A Commonwealth Foundation Brief describes a "virtual ward" model developed in Great Britain to minimize hospitalizations for chronic disease patients. Early results are encouraging and similar models are being tried…
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Medicaid programs, and other third-party payers, can save a lot of money by requiring use of generics when available. Some state laws, however, can significantly inhibit generic use, according to…
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Deloitte puts out an Issue Brief touting the mobile personal health record as a key to reducing costs, primarily by better chronic condition management. There are a lot of barriers…
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The new health law attempts to dictate how much of insurance premiums insurers must spend on medical care, so of course there is now extensive haggling on defining the calculation.…
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A study of a medical home model indicates reductions in hospital admissions and readmissions and possibly a reduction in total spending. It is not clear, however, what the full economic…
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Summer nears an end, but not our Potpourris. This one includes the costs of malpractice, an innovative provider error disclosure program, employer wellness paybacks, blood pressure medication issues, the cost…
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Everyone is anxious to see the early effects of the reform law on health care costs. Another survey of large employer groups regarding their 2010 and 2011 expectations indicates that…
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It is well-established that physicians respond to various economic incentives by changing their treatment behavior. A recent study explores this phenomenon in the context of Medicare's cancer chemotherapy drug reimbursement…
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Palliative care has been extensively researched and the results indicate greater quality of life and patient satisfaction for persons with terminal illness. New research suggests it also extends survival.
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