Tag: Insurance

Atul Gawande named CEO of new Amazon led healthcare company

Editor's Note Surgeon and Harvard Medical School professor Atul Gawande, MD, has been named CEO of the Boston-based Amazon, JP Morgan Chase, and Berkshire Hathaway healthcare venture, the June 20 Modern Healthcare reports. The companies, which are focused on lowering the cost of care primarily for their nearly 1.2 million…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 20, 2018
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CMS issues final rule to increase access to affordable health plans

Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on April 9 issued the Health and Human Services Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2019 final rule. CMS says the rule will mitigate the harmful effects of Obamacare and empower states to relax the rules on what insurers…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 10, 2018
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BCBS pilots hip, knee bundled model

Editor's Note Blue Cross Blue Shield (BCBS) of Michigan is piloting a bundled payment program for hip and knee replacements, the March 27 HealthcareDive reports. The pilot, which includes 64 surgeons at seven healthcare systems, will use a mix of inpatient and outpatient settings in an effort to reduce the…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 4, 2018
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AHRQ: Increased revenues, not cost reductions linked to improved profits

Editor's Note Increased revenues had a greater impact than decreased costs in hospitals that became more profitable between 2003 and 2013, finds this Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) study published February 14 online ahead of print in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. In this analysis of 2,824…

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By: Judy Mathias
April 3, 2018
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Editorial

Efforts in 2017 to dismantle the Affordable Care Act (ACA) were largely unsuccessful, but a tax reform bill that includes a provision to abolish the ACA’s individual insurance mandate seems likely to pass. As a result, 13 million fewer Americans will be insured by 2027, and premiums will go up…

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By: Elizabeth Wood
December 14, 2017
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Physicians spend more than half their time on EHR tasks

Editor's Note Primary care physicians spend more than half of their workday typing data on a computer screen and completing other electronic health record (EHR) tasks, this study from the University of Wisconsin and the American Medical Association finds. During a typical 11.4-hour workday, physicians spent nearly 6 hours on…

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By: Judy Mathias
September 20, 2017
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California county goes surgery shopping

Editor's Note California's Santa Barbara County and other government employers are joining private employers in shopping for lower-cost bundled surgical care, even if it means going out of town, the September 1 Kaiser Health News reports. The voluntary program that includes incentives such as waived copays and deductibles as well…

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By: Judy Mathias
September 5, 2017
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AHRQ: Cost trends for inpatient stays

Editor's Note From 2005 to 2014, the average inflation-adjusted cost of a hospital inpatient stay increased by 12.7%, from $9,500 to $10,900, according to new statistics from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). Average costs for stays increased: 16% for Medicaid 18% for private insurance 8% for Medicare…

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By: Judy Mathias
August 2, 2017
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Study identifies high-risk groups for readmissions

Editor's Note Comparing rates, characteristics, and costs of hospital readmissions across all ages and insurance types, researchers from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, found that of more than 12.5 million patients discharged in 2013, approximately 1.8 million were readmitted within 30 days. Medicare patients accounted for 56% of readmissions,…

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By: Judy Mathias
July 11, 2017
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Study characterizes ED visits after total joint procedures

Editor's Note Emergency department (ED) visits after total joint procedures were numerous and mostly for pain-related diagnoses, and Medicaid patients had almost double the risk of an ED or pain-related ED visit, this study finds. Of 152,783 patients analyzed, 3.42% returned to the inpatient setting and 5.81% visited the ED…

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By: Judy Mathias
June 28, 2017
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