An Obama administration proposal to reduce Medicare payments for many prescription drugs has run into sharp bipartisan criticism, suggesting that it is easier to diagnose the problem of high prices than to solve it.
Tag Archives: Medicare
Healthcare Triage News: Pay for Performance in Medicine: It Doesn’t Work
Healthcare Triage News: Pay for Performance in Medicine: It Doesn’t Work
“Pay-for-performance” is an umbrella term for initiatives aimed at improving the quality, efficiency, and overall value of health care. These arrangements provide financial incentives to hospitals, physicians, and other health care providers to carry out such improvements and achieve optimal outcomes for patients.
Two-midnight rule coming to an end; hospitals in line for one-time payment
Hospitals instead will receive a one-time payment of 0.6 percent next year to offset the 0.2 percent reduction implemented from 2014 through 2016.
Your vanishing health coverage: Employers are cutting retiree health benefits at a rapid rate
The shrinkage of employee retirement resources in the U.S. has been well documented, as employers shift more risk onto their workers. Less so is the rate at which employers have been eliminating healthcare benefits for retirees. As the Kaiser Family Foundation recently reported, retiree health coverage is becoming an endangered species.
Performance measures put heat on hospitals
http://www.healthcaredive.com/news/performance-measures-put-heat-on-hospitals/418477/
This year has seen a bevy of new programs and initiatives aimed at moving providers toward a value-based model of care.
The Tangled Hospital-Physician Relationship
Medicare’s New Physician Payment System
http://www.rwjf.org/en/library/research/2016/04/medicare-s-new-physician-payment-system.html
Government and private-sector leaders have resolved to transform how physicians are paid in a way that holds them more accountable for the care they deliver.
http://www.rwjf.org/content/dam/farm/reports/issue_briefs/2016/rwjf428568
New Health Policy Brief: Medicare’s New Physician Payment System
Some Firms Save Money By Offering Employees Free Surgery
Lowe’s home improvement company, like a growing number of large companies nationwide, offers its employees an eye-catching benefit: certain major surgeries at prestigious hospitals at no cost to the employee.
Study finds that 23 percent of diabetes treatment cost is avoidable
It is estimated that 1 out of 3 people can be expected to develop the disease in their lifetime. The majority of diabetes patients were found to experience at least one potentially avoidable complication, with a cost averaging $1,043 per year for patients with private insurance and $1,869 for those with Medicaid. The authors believe the results illustrate the value of using analytics on patient data, supporting the objectives of population health initiatives to identify opportunities for improving treatment while lowering cost.
