A new report from the National Bureau of Economics adds to the evidence that obesity is related to substantial health expenditures, but primarily concentrated in a few individuals.
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Is there anything scary about health care? Yes if you have to pay for it! Nothing scary about our Potpourri, just soothing health care nuggets, covering alternative therapies for back pain, CBO’s view on the reform law, peer interaction to help manage diabetes, diabetes prevalence, Massachusetts physician information, accountable care organizations, bias in clinical trial results and the effects of the health law on employer provided insurance.
The days are shortening and the light fades, but there is still enough to read our Potpourri, which this week includes two benefit consultants’ views on health care coverage costs for next year, hospice care at end-of-life, insurance premium hikes in Connecticut, Massachusetts health reform outcomes, and how patients’ characteristics affects doctors’ quality ratings.
Consumers increasingly look for medical information and advice on the internet. Research, including a recent study relating to childhood health issues, suggests that many times the data given can be erroneous.
Not much is hotter in health care than wireless/mobile functionality and how it may affect many aspects of care delivery and health management. A PWC report looks at trends, opportunities and challenges.
Research shows that allowing nurse anesthetists to do their jobs without physician supervision does not pose additional risk to patients. Regulations and laws which limit this ability should therefore be eliminated.
A Commonwealth Foundation Brief describes a “virtual ward” model developed in Great Britain to minimize hospitalizations for chronic disease patients. Early results are encouraging and similar models are being tried in the United States.
Deloitte puts out an Issue Brief touting the mobile personal health record as a key to reducing costs, primarily by better chronic condition management. There are a lot of barriers from vision to reality.
A study discusses trends in the use of emergency rooms. Medicaid beneficiaries are the vast majority of the increase in utilization, which may reflect poor access to primary care or inappropriate health care seeking behavior.
Another selection of medical delights, including a telemedicine study that didn’t show improved outcomes, a telemedicine study that demonstrated the value of teleaudiology, end-of-life care, physician quality measurement, hospital quality measurement, and telemedicine for CHF patients.
A Health Affairs/Robert Wood Johnson Issue Brief examines the accountable care organization concept, particularly as embodied in the recent federal health legislation. While there may be potential, as ACOs are structured for Medicare there will be many challenges on the road to meeting expectations.
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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