Early reports on data form 2012 and 2013 show that plans that entered the program did better if they entered earlier rather than later. However the results are clearly mixed. From the NEJM article. In the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) — the largest of the Medicare accountable care organization (ACO) programs — participating provider… Read More
Medical coverage is one thing but physicians and patients alike will tell you coverage does not mean that they will have access to timely medical care. The issue that California is facing is that the Accountable Care Act (ACA) has covered a tremendous number of patients with Medi-Cal leading many to believe they will have… Read More
Real Estate. Internet companies. Real estate again. Banks. Next healthcare?It is interesting that there are some unbelievably conflicting articles about how the Obamacare Exchange Plans and Medicaid Expansion are going. On one side, there have been some studies that show the plans are efficient and cutting the cost of healthcare and even an Op=Ed… Read More
There is something wrong when companies can purchase another company’s product, limit competition, and jack up the price. Normally, one would say that is good business. But healthcare is not your usual business. Adding fuel to the fire, it appears the FDA did not approve two EPi-PEN competitors earlier in 2016 over non-safety issues. This… Read More
A tough election coming up but being in healthcare, one of the biggest issues is how will the new President change healthcare. Becker’s Healthcare provides an overview of Rand studies of what each candidate is proposing and a breakdown of how their policies would likely affect U.S. healthcare. 1. Ms. Clinton’s proposals Ms. Clinton advocates… Read More
Over the past decade hospitals have increasingly decided to employ physicians. In 2003, hospitals employed about 29% of physicians and that has dramatically increased to 42% of hospitals in 2012. Hospitals argued that this would increase productivity and was needed to coordinate care and improve quality. A study in the September 20, 2016 issue of… Read More
CMS administrators credited initiatives like the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program with saving Medicare beneficiaries from 100,000 unnecessary hospital readmissions in 2015 alone. Virtually every state in the U.S. (except Vermont ) has reduced its avoidable hospital readmission rates since 2010, new data released Tuesday by the CMS show. These improvements follow the implementation of various… Read More
A recent article in Modern Healthcare discussed data released by the U.S. Census Bureau on September 13, 2016 that the uninsured percentage fell to 9.1% (of Americans went without health insurance in 2015) which is the lowest rate ever recorded. This has been attributed to the Affordable Care Act’s coverage expansion. However, due primarily to high deductibles… Read More
Hospital ownership of physician practices has increased by 86% in the last three years, according to a new report. The analysis, conducted by healthcare consulting firm Avalere Health and the not-for-profit Physicians Advocacy Institute, found that from 2012 to 2015, hospitals acquired 31,000 physician practices in the U.S. Currently in mid-2015, one in four medical… Read More
