And in yet another study in Health Affairs indicating the harms of hospital consolidation of medical services, ambulatory surgery centers raised prices much less in the last few years than did hospital outpatient departments providing the same services.
More from the maybe we don't really know what we think we know department; after decades of complaining about excessive Cesarean deliveries, new research published in JAMA indicates that higher rates of such deliveries are associated with lower baby and mother mortality.
PE firm Audax is buying Active Day Senior Care, which operates 80 senior day care centers across the country. Gee, we start our lives in day care and we can end them there too, how wonderful.
According to results of a survey published in the Mayo Clinic Proceedings, burnout among doctors is increasing, as is dissatisfaction with work/life balance. Half of physicians express burnout and dissatisfaction.
Research in JAMA Internal Medicine finds that an intervention to lessen use of "low-value" services, in this case, imaging for back pain or headache or bone density testing, by using fake patients and then counseling young physicians, did not work. Maybe we should rely more on doctors' judgment about the value of services and maybe we should recognize their risk-aversion, given the malpractice world they live in.
Troubled revenue cycle management firm Accretive has received lifeline financing and a long-term contract from a group headed by hospital chain Ascension Health.
Melody Health Insurance is singing a happy tune and ending the year on an upbeat note, adding $3.8 million to support entry as a health insurer into new markets.
A study published in the British Journal of General Practice finds that physicians who don't prescribe antibiotics when patients think they should get them are likely to have lower satisfaction scores, demonstrating again the conflict between expecting physicians to have high satisfaction scores and punishing them for not following care guidelines.
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.
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.
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