Headlines – Page 359 – Healthy Skeptic

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.

Mar 18 2013

prices

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A report from the Healthcare Incentives Improvement Institute finds that few states have laws which ensure that consumers have adequate information about what medical services really cost.

Mar 18 2013

app

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

HHS has released the draft of the application for health insurance purchased through exchanges. It weighs in at a slim 21 pages which should only take a week or so for the average consumer to fill out. Another reform nightmare.

Mar 18 2013

exch

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

According to a JD Powers survey, many consumers are willing to shop for health insurance via an exchange.

Mar 14 2013

ehr

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

A survey by the American College of Physicians indicates that there is rapidly growing and deep dissatisfaction with EHRs among physicians, with most feeling it doesn’t improve care and reduces productivity. Yippee, another health reform law triumph!