Variation in Medicare Expenditures to Treat Surgical Complications
Treating surgical complications with the best quality care while minimizing costs remains a major challenge for hospitals. Especially when dealing with perioperative complications, hospitals have no unanimous standards for cost and care.
Understanding the Challenges Facing the Health Insurance Exchanges
A new study by Avalere Health identified the key challenges facing health insurance exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and considers a range of potential policy options that could be combined to improve the sustainability of the market into the future.
Improving Targeted Violence Prevention Programs Can Reduce ER Uilization
Preventing recurrent violent injury has always been an important component of public health approach to interpersonal violence. However, prior studies have done very little to highlight the true incidence of recurrent violent injury.
OOP Expenses Remain a Problem in Medicare, Especially for Beneficiaries Taking Specialty Drugs
Medicare beneficiaries still face huge out-of-pocket expenses because of uncapped cost sharing in the catastrophic coverage phase. This is especially true for beneficiaries who take specialty drugs.
Patient-Reported Outcomes Improve Patient Engagement and Care
The provision of patient-centered care leads to better engagement between patients and their healthcare teams. One way to encourage patient-centered care is to incorporate patient-reported outcomes into clinical settings.
Physician Participation in ACOs Less Likely in Areas With Vulnerable Populations
Accountable care organizations are becoming increasingly common in the United States, but they are more likely to be formed in regions of the country with populations that have a higher socioeconomic status.
Home-Based Medical Care Is Concentrated Away From Most Homebound Patients
About 4 million patients need home-based medical care because they are frail, functionally limited, and homebound. New research finds out just how much are the home-based medical care providers geographically concentrated or spread out.
Extreme Levels of "Good Cholesterol" May Lead to Premature Death
High-density lipoprotein (HDL) has become known as “good cholesterol” because it helps reduce risk of stroke and heart attack. However, new research found that both high and low levels of HDL could increase a person’s risk of premature death.
Cost Sharing Leads Some Patients to Delay Medically Necessary Care
A new report by the American College of Physicians sheds light on the harsh truth that being underinsured is as big a challenge as being uninsured. Cost sharing, in particular deductibles, has caused patients to forgo or delay care, including medically necessary services.
Addressing Substance Use Disorders and Improving Access to Treatment
The Pew Charitable Trusts has proposed several ideas to address substance use disorders by focusing on developing and supporting policies such as the proposed rule to increase the patient limit for qualifying physicians to treat opioid use disorders.
Health Plans Work Toward Ensuring Access to Quality Behavioral Healthcare
Health plans are recognizing the importance of behavioral healthcare. In addition to meeting parity requirements, plans are proactively engaging with consumers who need behavioral healthcare, coordinating their care across the continuum, and working with them to find community-based support services they may need.