A study in the Journal of the American Medical Association suggests that teaching hospitals have lower mortality rates.
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Research in the Journal of Health Economics examines the impact of provider vertical integration on Medicare utilization and spending.
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A study in the Journal of Health Economics finds that hospitals that merge are able to reduce costs, but payers and consumers don't see the benefits.
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Medicare Advantage plans typically attempt to control costs by lowering inpatient use and spending. A new study examines use and cost of hospitalizations in MA.
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Researchers use an interesting approach to ascertain that hospital quality measures do appear to be associated with better patient outcomes.
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A study in Health Services Research finds that whether or not a hospital is part of a larger system has minimal impact on cost and quality outcomes.
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A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine finds no real quality benefit from hospital employment of physicians.
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New York's State Health Foundation releases a report examining hospital pricing in the region.
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A recent MedPAC meeting included a discussion of the effects of provider consolidation.
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A physician writes an article in the American Journal of Medicine excoriating non-profit hospitals for their pricing and compensation practices.
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Notwithstanding hospitals' claims to the contrary, their employment of physicians appears to do nothing to improve quality.
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New research in Health Affairs seems to support the oft-questioned notion that better quality care is associated with lower medical spending.
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A very surprising result comes from research finding that Medicare Advantage plans pay hospitals less than fee-for-service Medicare does.
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CMS' hospital stars program is already drawing fire for the same issues as the readmission penalty initiative has--disproportionate punishment of hospitals serving sicker, poorer patients.
http://www.fiercehealthcare.com/healthcare/cms-star-ratings-favor-smaller-hospitals-lower-risk-patients?utm_medium=nl&utm_source=internal&mrkid=635530&mkt_tok=eyJpIjoiWlRNME0yRTFNVGt4WVRGbSIsInQiOiJFWkRFQTZsdTNYNWVOSUwzN0VPSENXTHFNQXRQZmJwZU5Ga1ZoNE40SStzaW5YXC9rR3dwdURTa3I3ME4yOWFMWHlnZjZRZXgyeXBuR1dWbldrRGozWGhBK05jWHpGdDFyXC9nYjJrTzRLWFVzPSJ9About 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.