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Healthy Skeptic

Health care news and research

 

2011 Potpourri XXIII

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Another scintillating menu of health care tidbits, including provider reaction to the proposed Accountable Care Organization rule; end-of-life care in the US and Canada; hospital volume and outcomes for difficult surgeries; hospital marketing of robotic surgery; and cutting lab test costs.

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More Data Available from CMS

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CMS has proposed a rule to implement a PPACA provision allowing access to extracts of provider-level Medicare data to evaluate performance, primarily on quality measures. This is a good first step, but just a first step in being able to completely profile physician practice patterns.

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Massachusetts Provider Price Variation

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A new report on prices paid by commercial insurers in Massachusetts shows great variation, which appears unrelated to providers’ costs or to the quality of care delivered. While the specific causes of the variation aren’t analyzed, a large opportunity to limit spending by reducing high-end payments is apparent.

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2011 Potpourri XXII

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Another round of health tidbits, including the association between primary care workforce and Medicare outcomes, comparisons of Type 2 diabetes drugs, effects of limiting DTC drug advertising, health information exchange sustainability, the effect of the Irish workplace smoking ban and barriers to diffusion of cost-effective care.

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2011 Potpourri XXI

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Our Memorial Day Potpourri, celebrating health information such as the growth of high-deductible plans, physician starting salaries, benefit design for high-cost conditions, why emergency room physicians order tests, the use of telehealth for heart failure patients and sources of physician pay.

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