A study in the journal Telemedicine and eHealth finds that patients who use virtual visits do not have fewer in-person visits; in fact the same people tend to be high utilizers of both tele-visits and in-person ones. The study was conducted at the Mayo Clinic and suggests that virtual visits may be additive to utilization and costs, not substitutive.
According to Avalere Health, Medicare Advantage enrollment continued to grow for the 2014 year, with enrollment rising to 15.9 million people, almost 30% of all beneficiaries. This was a 9% gain from 2013, in spite of concerns about reimbursement cuts. Medicare Part D enrollment also grew.
A survey from Sullivan Cotter and Associates indicates that the gap between primary care and specialist physician pay has begun to narrow, with an increase of 5.7% for primary care doctors and about 3% for specialists. But the absolute gap is still huge, with primary care doctors averaging around $200-250,000 while specialists can earn multiples of that.
A study in the journal Health Services Research finds that measurement and public reporting of hospital surgical site infection ratings provides consumers with little useful information to differentiate between facilities.
Fairpay Solutions, which helps with pricing of workers' compensation claims, has been sold by the PE firm which owned it to Mitchell International, which is owned by another PE firm.
Greenway Medical Technologies, a large EHR vendor, is acquiring PeopleLYNK, which provides services to help providers keep patients engaged and retained.
According to a survey, 69% of doctors say defensive medicine is a leading cause of excessive health spending, 65% say the aging population is one, 60% blame rising drug costs and 51% say increasing use of technology. Apparently high provider incomes and charges was not on the list.
The FDA is going to re-examine how it regulates over the counter drugs, due to increasing safety concerns and the long passage of time since the rules were promulgated. Gee, next Congress might even decide to look at supplement regulation.
A study in the CMS research journal finds that use of peer support for mental health treatment in Medicaid programs increased costs significantly with unclear effects on outcomes.
More good news for fans of big-government mandated health benefit rules---the Office of the Actuary at CMS estimates that 65% of small businesses will pay higher health insurance premiums because of the reform law.
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.