A report from the Urban Institute projects what savings might be available from greater use of intensive care management for persons with serious, multiple chronic diseases.
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Welcome to 2012, when you can once again expect a series of high-quality Potpourris from our immense data bank! Our initial foray includes the Independence at Home CMS demo, discharge summaries and hospital readmissions, CMS’ quality measures for Medicaid patients, private equity fundraising, medical homes and cost savings for Medicaid patients and the effect of poor discharge summaries on nursing home patients.
The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality examines the supposed mechanisms by which public reporting of provider performance on quality measures will improve outcomes and details the evidence which supports or fails to support that theory.
We appear to be in the midst of a hiatus in rapid health spending growth and health price inflation, a view reinforced by two recent reports from the Altarum Institute. Declines in per capita utilization may be the major cause, which might be a concern if needed care is being delayed.
A draft evidence report from AHRQ looks at end-of-life and hospice care. End-of-life care is often fingered as one of the causes of increasing health spending. The report finds moderate evidence supporting beneficial effects from many of the studied interventions.
Our final commentary of 2011 reflects on developments in health care for the year. Notably, support for the health reform law continues to be weak and health care cost growth continues to outpace both GDP and inflation.
One reason given for the need for the reform law was the growth in health insurance costs, although it is yet unclear whether the law reduces or increases those costs in the long run. A Commonwealth Fund brief looks at state-by-state trends in premiums and consumer costs.
Another one of the concepts being counted on to help improve health care quality and lower costs in the wake of reform is the “medical home.” An AHRQ draft review finds little evidence on quality effects or cost savings, but also suggests there is promise in the approach.
How much does health spending per person vary across the fifty states and does that variance occur equally in the commercially insured population, Medicaid eligibles and Medicare beneficiaries? These and other questions are answered in research published in the Medicare and Medicaid Research Review.
Our penultimate Potpourri delivers the quality you are accustomed to (for good or bad), including presents of health information on the Medicare physician payment method, telemonitoring results in the UK, the effect of eprescribing on fill rates, issues relating to use of health information technology in the home, the effect of social network on health behavior and whether imaging results actually influence decision-making or outcomes. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!
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 [email protected].
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