The New Yorker carries an exceptional article by Atul Gawande on end-of-life care, highlighting irrational reimbursement policies and the difficult decisions that both patients and providers must make.
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A study of diagnostic practices for Medicare beneficiaries reveals geographic variations. These variations not only may suggest either under or overuse of diagnostic tests but they can bias other research results and payment methods. A second study suggests that caution should be applied in analyzing regional variation to ensure that all possible sources of the differences are taken into account.
A lot of great items in this week’s potpourri, covering the acquisition of HealthGrades, what encourages men to get screenings, potential cheating on pay-for-performance schemes, the problems of a multi-payer system, improving heart failure care, Canada’s experience with EHRs and autonomous robot surgery.
A study in JAMA suggests that process-of-care quality measures, which are frequently used for bonus or penalty reimbursement programs, may have little real relationship to ultimate health outcomes.
Another week, another potpourri, this time with items on workers’ compensation drug spending, benefit consulting firm mergers, hospital readmissions, geographic variation in spending and use of mobile vans to deliver health care.
The state of human knowledge is often imperfect and medical treatment provides frequent examples of that. What we think we know often turns out to be erroneous as two recent studies published in JAMA demonstrate.
There are so many sources of the rapid increases in national health spending that it is hard to track them all. A recent article estimates the costs of “medicalization”, the process of turning problems into medical issues which end up incurring health costs.
Sitting indoors seeking relief from the summer heat? Here’s a montage of cool and refreshing health care items, including CPOE systems, accountable care organizations, Massachusetts’ reform experience, reducing imaging, and medical management trends.
We light up the sky with a scintillating selection of health care bombshells. Okay, maybe not that great, but some hopefully useful info on the VA’s health information system, MRIs and emergency cardiac care, business method and process patents, end-of-life care, actuaries’ views on how to control costs and, of course, more issues in Massachusetts.
A critical component of personalized medicine is various molecular diagnostic tests. AHRQ has issued a lengthy report on the state of these tests, examining their quality and clinical utility.
Home infusion of therapeutic agents is increasing, especially as more biologics, which tend to need infusion, are approved for use. GAO looked at how Medicare FFS handles home infusion versus how private plans do.
Another weekend bonanza of health care items, including health insurance premium increases, genetic testing, remote patient monitoring, eye drug coverage by Medicare, emergency room use under the reform law and paying people to take their medicine.
The medical home is one of the hot concepts which is supposed to improve quality and lower costs. Many demonstrations are under way. A special issue of the Annals of Family Medicine reports on one of the largest of these.
One theory for improving the health care system is to rely on more-informed and engaged consumers to help improve decision-making about treatment options. A recent Health Affairs article suggests there is a long way to go on this goal.
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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