A study in the Journal of Adolescent Health finds that young adults who obtain health insurance continue to use the ER at very high rates, and while they have higher overall health spending than their uninsured peers, they have the same level of out-of-pocket spending. You can lead em to the insurance, but you can't make em drink it right.
Press Ganey, which helps providers improve patient satisfaction and quality, is acquiring Dynamic Clinical Solutions, which helps patients collect medical information and provide it to physicians.
According to an analysis by Mark Farrah Associates, Medicare supplement enrollment continues to grow. Some experts believe Medicare supplement policies create overutilization of services.
According to an iVantage Health Analytics report, rural hospitals are far less expensive than urban ones for the same diagnoses and deliver just as good a quality and patient satisfaction.
Cigna has released the 8th annual report on high deductible plans, finding that costs were 12% lower for members in those plans and they were much more likely to engage in activities like completing an HRA.
Hearst Health continued its health care acquisition spree, acquiring CareInSync, a maker of software that aids collaboration across care teams in different settings.
Altarum's report on health spending as of February 2014 shows 6.7% year-over-year growth, with the highest rate of growth in drug spending, followed by hospital inpatient and home health. The overall growth rate is accelerating and is significantly higher than GDP growth.
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.