Headlines – Page 355 – Healthy Skeptic

Mar 25 2013

tele

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A study in England found that using telehealth to support the care of people with chronic conditions such as COPD, heart disease or diabetes did not appear to be cost-effective, although it might improve quality.

Mar 23 2013

dev

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The Senate has voted overwhelmingly to eliminate the medical device tax imposed as part of the funding for the health reform law. No word on what the President will do. Can you say “its unraveling”?

Mar 22 2013

wsj

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The Wall Street Journal has a story about the likely hefty increase in some health insurance premiums next year.

Mar 21 2013

wal

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

Walgreens, Boots, and AmeriSource Bergen entered into a 10 year deal regarding provision and distribution of drugs, which should provide substantial benefits to Walgreens over time and improves its competitive position.

Mar 21 2013

kaiser

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The Kaiser Permanente organization is often cited as the model of efficient, high-quality care, but a story in the New York Times says that even that system is having great trouble lowering spending, suggesting just how pie-in-the-sky reform law claims are.

Mar 21 2013

er

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

Research in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that using diagnoses codes alone will not distinguish visits to the ER which were appropriate from those that were not.

Mar 20 2013

infec

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A paper released by Premier says that hospitals participating in an infection reduction program significantly reduced the rate of infections and saved billions of dollars.

Mar 18 2013

exc

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

Workers at companies that offered them private exchange options generally selected high deductible plans with lower premiums at a higher rate than they did before the introduction of the private exchanges, according to a Wall Street Journal story. It is unclear whether the workers are assuming they won’t incur health care costs, which can be a dangerous assumption.

Mar 18 2013

exc

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A short report from the Kaiser Family Foundation gives the status of health insurance exchange efforts in various states.

Mar 18 2013

cost

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A report from the Altarum Institute finds that health care prices are rising at about 4% in the early part of 2013, with home health care and hospital pricing leading the way.