Deloitte puts out an Issue Brief touting the mobile personal health record as a key to reducing costs, primarily by better chronic condition management. There are a lot of barriers from vision to reality.
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The new health law attempts to dictate how much of insurance premiums insurers must spend on medical care, so of course there is now extensive haggling on defining the calculation. The NAIC has released its version, which now goes to HHS for review.
A study of a medical home model indicates reductions in hospital admissions and readmissions and possibly a reduction in total spending. It is not clear, however, what the full economic impact was nor is it clear that most practices would see the results that this particular provider system did.
Summer nears an end, but not our Potpourris. This one includes the costs of malpractice, an innovative provider error disclosure program, employer wellness paybacks, blood pressure medication issues, the cost of new technologies, provider pricing power and the mental health of Californians.
Everyone is anxious to see the early effects of the reform law on health care costs. Another survey of large employer groups regarding their 2010 and 2011 expectations indicates that those costs are continuing to go up, probably at a faster pace.
It is well-established that physicians respond to various economic incentives by changing their treatment behavior. A recent study explores this phenomenon in the context of Medicare’s cancer chemotherapy drug reimbursement policies.
Palliative care has been extensively researched and the results indicate greater quality of life and patient satisfaction for persons with terminal illness. New research suggests it also extends survival.
A study discusses trends in the use of emergency rooms. Medicaid beneficiaries are the vast majority of the increase in utilization, which may reflect poor access to primary care or inappropriate health care seeking behavior.
New research adds more caution to the promotion of great benefits from electronic medical records. The researchers found that in hospitals, costs actually increased and quality worsened by some measures, although improving by others.
Another selection of medical delights, including a telemedicine study that didn’t show improved outcomes, a telemedicine study that demonstrated the value of teleaudiology, end-of-life care, physician quality measurement, hospital quality measurement, and telemedicine for CHF patients.
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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