Another consultant’s report on the American health system, this one from KPMG and focusing on the supposed transformation from a volume-based system to one founded on value. While leaders of health care system participants recognize the likelihood of significant change, they also seem determined not to let their share of health system spending drop.
Another paper from the National Bureau of Economic Research, this one examining consumer behavior in the context of the Medicare Part D exchange and finding that beneficiary inertia seems to result in less than optimal choices and lost savings opportunities.
The Dartmouth Atlas project has made its name by studying regional variations in health care utilization, spending and quality, with a core finding that substantial variation exists which does not appear to be correlated with quality. Its latest report, which has sketchy logic, examines variation in care at academic medical centers, which is where most physicians learn their craft.
Another installment of our non-award winning (are there any potential awards?) Potpourri, this one examining drug costs for conditions of aging, self-referral in imaging, in home palliative care at the end-of-life, more on hospital readmissions and retail clinic utilization.
Our last episode for the week of health spending is a useful report from the Kaiser Family Foundation, which provides an analysis of health expenditures in the United States, focusing on all the dimensions, including the impact on individuals and employers.
Today’s report relating to American health expenditures comes from the Bipartisan Policy Center and looks at the drivers for our health care spending growth. All the usual suspects are rounded up and tabulated in a pro forma way.
The Urban Institute issued a report examining health care spending trends in the United States prior to the passage of the federal health care reform using MEPS data from 2001 to 2009 on the non-elderly by spending category, finding most of the increase is due to unit price growth.
This week will be health care spending week, as we have collected several reports relating to spending trends, starting with a California HealthCare Foundation report examining components of health care costs and trends and drivers for each.
The light fades but not our evanescent Potpourri, this week featuring stories on computerized point of entry ordering, the presence of large treatment effects in research, characteristics of patients with readmissions, a survey on Medicare physician reimbursement and a study on family caregivers.
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 [email protected].
© 2024 Healthy Skeptic.
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