A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine gives heart to supporters of telephone-based care management programs. Largely because of reduced hospitalizations, patients in the intervention arm had…
Read More
Telemedicine is being applied to many diseases and conditions and telemonitoring is spreading as a core component of self-management of health and a method to ensure greater continuity of care.…
Read More
The Dartmouth Atlas researches whether more primary care necessarily leads to better quality of care. The answer appears to be usually not, but the explanation for this result is complex…
Read More
The days are shortening and the light fades, but there is still enough to read our Potpourri, which this week includes two benefit consultants' views on health care coverage costs…
Read More
CMS is very enamored of quality ratings for providers of all types, including the Medicare Advantage plans, which are rated on a five-star basis. A new brief examines changes to…
Read More
An article in Health Affairs looks at new proposals for paying physicians on an at-risk basis in light of the historical experience with capitation, which operated in a similar manner.
Read More
The National Academy of Social Insurance tracks workers' compensation trends, among other items, and has issued a report which confirms that medical costs are rising faster than indemnity costs.
Read More
Consumers increasingly look for medical information and advice on the internet. Research, including a recent study relating to childhood health issues, suggests that many times the data given can be…
Read More
Obesity has been fingered as one of the villains of health care cost increases. A CBO analysis verifies that obese persons appear to have significantly higher annual health care costs…
Read More
On the menu for this week's potpourri--savings from wellness efforts for a large employer; drug reimbursement for Medicaid programs; using remote monitoring in a health plan context; the FDA's regulatory…
Read More
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.