A working paper at the National Bureau of Economics reports on an analysis of the effects of England's attempt to increase competition between hospitals on quality, finding that hospitals in…
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A new report from McKinsey finds that the federal reform law will have more of an effect on the market for employer-based health insurance than other studies suggested would occur.…
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Another scintillating menu of health care tidbits, including provider reaction to the proposed Accountable Care Organization rule; end-of-life care in the US and Canada; hospital volume and outcomes for difficult…
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CMS has proposed a rule to implement a PPACA provision allowing access to extracts of provider-level Medicare data to evaluate performance, primarily on quality measures. This is a good first…
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A new report on prices paid by commercial insurers in Massachusetts shows great variation, which appears unrelated to providers' costs or to the quality of care delivered. While the specific…
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An Institute of Medicine report finds Medicare's geographic reimbursement adjustment formulas to be seriously flawed and suggests general principles to guide a reworking. The conclusions and follow-up reports are sure…
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Responding to a challenge for each medical specialty to find methods for reducing inappropriate care and spending in that specialty, two oncologists identify a number of steps that could easily…
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Another round of health tidbits, including the association between primary care workforce and Medicare outcomes, comparisons of Type 2 diabetes drugs, effects of limiting DTC drug advertising, health information exchange…
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The Pew Research Center's latest survey regarding people's use of the internet and social media for health purposes reveals continued growth. A large number of Americans view the internet as…
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The latest paper on geographic variation in Medicare spending uses a different design and statistical tool to demonstrate that higher spending on health care is associated with better health in…
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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.