The IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics has released a wonderful report on use of prescription drugs in the United States in 2011. A great deal of detailed information on therapeutic…
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In general, lower drug costs have helped decrease health spending growth, but specialty drug prices and use, often for cancer, have increased rapidly. New reports show these cost increases are…
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Welcome to another Potpourri of health information, focusing on workers' comp medical prices, cost-sharing on asthma meds, the Medicare Advantage program, doctors' experience of quality improvement programs, a review of…
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Specialty drug costs are growing very rapidly and in a few years may constitute half of all pharmaceutical spending. A new report from the Pharmacy Benefit Management Institute highlights trends…
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Another outstanding collection of summaries from the health research literature, including this week, physicians' difficulty in understanding the benefits of screening tests, physicians' feelings about health information technology, AARP's latest…
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Our latest Potpourri, a week late and we apologize, covers virtual coaching, the integration of drug and medical benefit management, how doctors chose to handle their own end-of-life care, Medicaid…
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Geographic variation in health care spending is an ongoing controversial topic primarily because the most significant implication is that many physicians have practice patterns that unnecessarily raise costs and changing…
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This week's Potpourri focuses on the cost of robotic surgery, the benefits of aspirin compared to more expensive drugs, the benefits of fitness club use, what states and specialties are…
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CMS has issued its latest proposal rule on Medicaid drug pricing and rebates. The proposal doesn't clear up all areas of uncertainty and will add administrative costs for manufacturers. It…
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SureScripts, the network which facilitates e-prescribing, released results from a study which showed benefits from use of e-prescribing in terms of better fill rates on prescriptions and better ongoing adherence.
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The Wall Street Journal published a special section devoted to big health care issues, with a pro and con format on questions ranging from should there be a health insurance…
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Winter is getting long and tedious by now, but our Potpourri offers a welcome respite, with refreshing tidbits on hospital uncompensated care, teledermatology, Medicaid controls of antipsychotic use, Medicare cuts…
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Our latest Potpourri reveals details about causes of workplace injuries, the effect of raising the Medicare eligibility age, benefit levels in existing health policies, false claims prosecutions and off-label drug…
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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 khroche@healthy-skeptic.com.
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