A new Health Affairs article suggests a different method to measure cost savings from disease prevention and management efforts.
Patients are increasingly involved in the management of their own health.
There are excellent hypertension treatments available but many Americans don’t know they have the condition and aren’t being treated.
A commentary on Medicare’s experience in attempting to improve the quality of heart failure care demonstrates just how hard it may be to get better outcomes and lower cost.
USA Today published an article on the federal end-stage renal disease program. The problems are typical of most government health programs.
A recent report from NEHI states that medication therapy non-compliance leads to $290 billion in avoidable medical costs every year.
Two studies question the value of a vertebral fracture treatment, but more importantly show the utility of comparative effectiveness research.
Research and experience continues to confirm the value, in both cost savings and patient satisfaction, of extensive patient involvement in important health decisions.
A number of companies are working on use of wireless technologies to improve health care.
Experts are recommending greater use of telemedicine in stroke assessment and treatment. There are significant barriers, however, many imposed by government.
Shared decision-making for preference-sensitive conditions has the potential to improve quality and control spending. States are exploring required use of the technique and it should be considered in federal reform efforts.
A recent article in The American Journal of Managed Care (volume 15, page 295, May 2009), described findings from a comparison within the Kaiser Permanente system of patients with diabetes who were subject to a care management program and those who were not.