A new research article examines the link between Medicare fee changes and the volume of utilization, confirming standard economic theory that the volume, or supply, of physician services does appear to be subject to normal supply and demand curves.
Sermo and Athena Health: 2010 Physician Sentiment Index℠: Taking the Pulse of the Physician Community
As part of health care reform, various reimbursement changes have proposed, such as episode bundling or time-based global payments. An article in Cancer points out that such revisions to payments don’t always have the intended effect.
The Massachusetts Attorney General investigates and discovers that hospitals and some physicians have market power and consequently are able to demand high payments and those payments are the main cause of increases in the cost of health insurance, not utilization increases.
Quality measurement and pay-for-performance programs continue to spread, in the belief that they will improve health care quality. A new study looks at the costs these programs impose on physician practices, finding that any financial incentives are usually lower than the costs.
Healthy health care snacks–concierge medicine, personalized medicine, health care hiring, electronic medical records, Medicaid, disease management–all for your reading pleasure on the weekend.
End-of-life care achieved some notoriety in the health reform debate, but it deserves thoughtful attention since it accounts for a great deal of cost and research indicates that patients’ wishes for less intensive care are often not honored. A new study looks at how physicians approach the issue.
Another collection of health care tidbits, a little telemedicine, a little reform, a little on medical care, a little personalized medicine and a smidgen of physician happiness.
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].
© 2024 Healthy Skeptic.
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
Overcast
PocketCasts
Radio Public
Stitcher
Anchor
RSS - Posts