Tag:
Health Affairs
Latest Headlines
Latest Headlines
Medication adherence improvements don't always curb costs
Value-based insurance design programs may need to target specific populations and run for years before payers and patients reap significant gains from them, according to a new Health Affairs study.
Legal complexities, uncertainties face mHealth app developers
Mobile health applications are affected by a patchwork of policies related to medical licensure, privacy and security protection, as well as malpractice liability--all of which must be taken under...
3 signs ACOs will continue to thrive
Accountable care organizations have been launching all over the country, becoming a popular approach in the shift toward value-based care. But will health insurers and the federal government continue to embrace ACOs this year?
Why is an EHR-induced drop in doc demand generating so little interest?
I'm never surprised when readers comment on my editorials, either on the FierceEMR website or to me personally. I try to address timely, thought-provoking topics that give readers pause, as well as the opportunity to weigh in. But I was a bit surprised when a news story I wrote last week about a study published in Health Affairs quickly generated comments. The study predicted, based on its analysis of electronic health record literature, that if just 30 percent of community-based physicians fully implemented health IT in their offices, the demand for physicians would decrease 4 to 9 percent. Evidently, the gains in efficiency claims in this study hit a nerve, with commenters strongly disagreeing with this conclusion. What I also was expecting--and haven't seen--was comments on the other conclusion of the study: that EHRs will cause significant physician job loss.
Increased EHR adoption could ease physician shortage
EHR and e-health use will "dramatically" impact the amount and type of physician services needed in the future, according to a new study in the November issue of Health Affairs.
More study of alternative tort reform needed to curb defensive medicine, researchers say
The presence of medical malpractice liability caps doesn't necessarily reduce physicians' practice of defensive medicine, according to a study published in the Aug. 5 Health Affairs.
3 lessons from ACOs
As accountable care organizations become more prevalent, ACOs will likely help transform the healthcare industry, altering provider payments and introducing new care models. But there also are inevitable bumps that insurers will face along the road as ACOs mature.
Prepayment review for Meaningful Use incentives is OK by me
What I found most striking about the Office of Inspector General's report last week lambasting the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for inadequate auditing and oversight of the Meaningful Use incentive program was the disagreement about what CMS should be doing to verify whether providers are entitled to incentive payments before doling those payments out.
Younger docs drive patient costs
Physicians with less than 10 years of experience had 13.2 percent higher overall costs than physicians with 40 or more years of practice, according to a study in Health Affairs.
Blue Shield, providers save $37M by coordinating care
By partnering with a hospital chain and doctor group to coordinate care for members of the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS), Blue Shield of California helped save $37 million for the state program.
