Hospital

May 17 2010

Wall Street Journal

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The U.S. health-care overhaul could help hospitals cut costs for high-priced medical devices, raising a long-term risk for manufacturers already facing some pressure on product prices.

May 14 2010

Wall Street Journal

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The proposal by the Hospital Association of Southern California to create a joint medical foundation is just one sign of the growing alignment between doctors and hospitals, an accelerating trend

May 11 2010

Using Technology to Limit Medication Mistakes

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

Errors in medication are far more common than might be imagined and cause serious adverse events. A NEJM article reports on efforts to use technology to limit such errors in…

May 10 2010

USA Today

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

Hospitals can slow the revolving door that shuttles heart failure patients back into bed within a month of going home by following up promptly to ensure patients get the right outpatient care, a study shows.

May 10 2010

Hospital Charges to the Uninsured

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

The plight of the uninsured was used as one justification for reform. AHRQ has put out a report on trends in hospitalizations for the uninsured over the last ten years,…

May 06 2010

A study in JAMA explores hospital readmissions for Medicare beneficiaries, finding that there is significant variation in discharge planning and follow-up, and that early attention to care after discharge leads…

May 03 2010

CA Health Care Almanac

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

General acute-care beds in the state rose slightly, from 83% of all beds in 2001 to 87% in 2007, but skilled-nursing beds fell from 11% to 9%

May 03 2010

CA Health Care Almanac

By Kevin Roche Research No Comments

CA Health Care Almanac: California Hospital Facts and Figures

May 01 2010

2010 Potpourri XV

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

The latest in our weekend selection of health news and research developments, including any willing provider laws, emergency room visits, the link between insurance and health outcomes, hospital rankings and…

Apr 29 2010

Hospital Value

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

Milliman, Inc. is a very prominent and capable actuarial firm which does excellent research on health care issues. The firm released a report on high, and low, value hospital regions,…

Apr 28 2010

High Performance Health Systems

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

The Commonwealth Fund, the Health Research & Educational Trust and the American Hospital Association issued an analysis of what contributes to a high performance hospital system in terms of patient…

Apr 24 2010

2010 Potpourri XIV

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

Another thrilling collection of health care tidbits; including patient safety, malpractice claims, physician discipline, hospital costs and charges, venture financings, employer health costs and who makes good liars.

Apr 20 2010

Bloomberg

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The hospitals ranked No. 1 for each of 12 medical specialties were ranked based on reputation scores alone; studies show these were “minimally associated” with objective quality measures

Apr 14 2010

New York Times

By Kevin Roche Headlines No Comments

The nagging and largely solvable problem of hospital-acquired infections remains as resistant to cure as the germs that contribute to an estimated 100,000 deaths a year

Apr 10 2010

2010 Potpourri XII

By Kevin Roche Commentary No Comments

The latest collection of health care tidbits, including telemedicine, physician attitudes, medication adherence, retail clinics, physician value to hospitals and CDHPs.