An article in the journal Surgery finds that assessing patients' health literacy before treatment increases patient satisfaction and that only about 20% of patients had adequate health literacy before the assessment and corrective action.
A study in Health Affair suggests that Medicare cuts in payments to hospitals leads to reductions in hospital beds and hospital use by beneficiaries, with uncertain effects on quality.
A viewpoint in the Journal of the American Medical Association reflects on how valuable shared decision-making can be in reducing medical spending, in light of limited research support for the notion and a limited understanding of how patients express preferences and whether patients really are inclined to choose less intensive treatments. Shared decision-making may be the right thing to do, but may not save money.
A study in the Journal Population Health Management suggests that over an eight year period a comprehensive wellness plan in a regional health insurer delivered a return of about 2 to 1 and saved $6 million.
According to research in Health Affairs, the formation of accountable care organizations seems to be most closely associated with geographic areas where there are already high levels of provider consolidation and integration, and not with areas of high medical spending, indicating that the opportunity for savings may not be as high as projected.
NextCODE Health has raised $15 million to launch a business designed to take information gained from the DeCode projects and turn them into clinically useful diagnostics and treatments.
According to research in the New England Journal of Medicine, physicians who own an interest in an integrated, intensity-modulated radiation therapy center, an expensive, highly reimbursed cancer treatment, are much more likely to use the technology on prostate cancer patients.
Health consultant Sherlock Company's 19th annual health plan pricing survey indicates that plans are anticipating 9.6% rate increases in 2014, which may be reduced to 6.8% after benefit changes. This rate of change would be an uptick from the past several years and likely reflects effects of the reform law.
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.
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.