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…
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An editorial in the Journal of Managed Care Pharmacy illustrates common pitfalls in creating guidelines based on certain kinds of research and explains why cause and effect can often be…
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New research examines the need to use care guidelines carefully, showing the danger of using generalized rules for all patients, and the benefit of tailoring those rules for individual circumstances.
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Research published in JAMA examines the extent to which patients' health literacy is associated with heart failure outcomes, finding a connection in the case of all-cause mortality, but not with…
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Hip replacement is one of the most pervasive orthopedic procedures, particularly among older Americans. Research among Medicare beneficiaries reveals trends over 18 years, finding lower mortality, but potential issues on…
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The latest Dartmouth Atlas report focuses on trends and variation in end-of-life care, finding fewer people are dying in the hospital, more hospice use is occurring, but intensity of care…
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Happy Easter and welcome to our latest Potpourri, which will raise you up with information on workplace wellness, hospital pricing, clinical decision support systems, using HIT to save on drug…
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A study of the VHA's care for chronic disease patients finds generally good compliance with treatment recommendations, but not necessarily the best patient outcomes, reflecting the complexity of improving quality.
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Medicaid and the Childrens Health Insurance Programs provide coverage for a very substantial portion of the nation's children. The GAO issues a report on the adequacy of some aspects of…
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Every few years April 1st falls on a Friday, allowing us to put out our Potpourri on that day. As you might anticipate, one of our items this week is…
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The Institute of Medicine puts out two reports related to guidelines and the evidence supporting them which, if followed, should help ensure credible advances in scientific guidance for medical care.
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Another edition of the Potpourri, featuring results on the Guided Care program, bundled payment experience, academic physician compensation, end-of-life care, hospital prices and costs, and geographic variation in Medicare spending.
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Our Ides of March Potpourri, featuring two studies of the impact of wellness programs; the link between hospital spending and mortality outcomes; HHS waiving the MLR requirement for Maine; bills…
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Hopefully winter nears its end; it has been brutal where we are. This week's Potpourri may offer a little diversion, covering defensive medicine, a pediatric tele-consultation service, home stroke rehabilitation,…
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Another rendition of selections from the health literature, including advance directive issues; guideline problems; physician religious beliefs and end-of-life care; health information exchanges; the results of use of modified global…
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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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