October 2012 - Health Affairs - The Network of Care

Will Pay For Performance Backfire? Insights From Behavioral Economics

Editor's note: In addition to Steffie Woolhandler and Dan Ariely (photos and linked bios above), this post is authored by David Himmelstein, a professor at the CUNY School of Public Health at Hunter College. Paying for performance (P4P) has strong...

Published Thu, Oct 11 2012 12:44 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Payment, Physicians, Medicare, Quality, Hospitals

Proportion Of Those With High Medical Costs Unchanged During Recent Recession

During a recession one would expect the percentage of people with high medical costs—those spending 10 percent or more of annual family income—to increase. But a Health Affairs Web First study released yesterday finds that during the 2007–09 recession...

Published Thu, Oct 25 2012 9:45 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Health Care Costs, Employer-Sponsored Insurance, Pharma

Meeting Quality Targets May Yield Only Modest Savings By Medicare ACOs

The Medicare Shared Savings Program, created under the Affordable Care Act, provides bonus payments to participating accountable care organizations (ACOs) that are successful in both lowering health costs in Medicare Parts A and B while meeting specified...

Published Fri, Oct 05 2012 7:41 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Spending, Medicare, Quality

2011 Health Spending Growth Ticks Up: Should We Be Concerned?

I am taking a break from analyzing national health spending sustainable growth rates to look at recent patterns of growth. I was inspired by the September 25 spending estimates from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI) showing an uptick in the growth...

Published Mon, Oct 01 2012 10:16 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Care Costs, Spending

States Take A First Step On The Path To Essential Health Benefits

State benchmark plan decisions—the first step on the path to essential health benefits as part of the Affordable Care Act—are rolling in. So far, 20 states and the District of Columbia have at least made a preliminary benchmark plan decision, and 15 of...

Published Wed, Oct 03 2012 12:10 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Policy, Politics, Insurance, States, Employer-Sponsored Insurance

Mixed Financial Incentives for Hospitals to Reduce Surgical Complications’ Frequency

Surgical complications are something that neither patients nor hospitals want. With low complication rates being increasingly recognized as an important measure of good hospital performance, initiatives to lower complication rates are being pursued with...

Published Wed, Oct 17 2012 1:22 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: Payment, Quality, Hospitals

A New Initiative To Put Outcomes Measurement At The Center Of Health Reform

Faced with the alarming implications of health care spending growth and suboptimal quality, many nations are turning to market-based reforms. The United Kingdom recently empowered primary care physician groups to choose among competing specialty care...

Published Wed, Oct 31 2012 6:12 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Payment, Competition, Quality, Comparative Effectiveness

New Health Affairs: Promise & Pitfalls Of Comparative Effectiveness Research

The October 2012 issue of Health Affairs provides an in-depth look at challenges in comparative effectiveness research. To surface issues around communication of research results, the issue includes a hypothetical comparative effectiveness case study...

Published Tue, Oct 09 2012 1:10 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Medicare, Pharma, AIDS, Comparative Effectiveness, Technology, Research

Realizing The Promise Of Integrated Care For The ‘Dual Eligibles’

One of the highest priorities in the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is care delivery transformation for Americans enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid, known as “dual eligible beneficiaries” or sometimes simply “duals.” This priority is embodied in federal...

Published Mon, Oct 22 2012 9:37 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Primary Care, Chronic Care, States, Medicare, Quality, Medicaid

Health Policy Brief: Nurse Practitioners And Primary Care

A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation examines policy proposals that would allow nurse practitioners to practice to their full potential—and the extent to which the medical profession, policy makers, and...

Published Thu, Oct 25 2012 10:42 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Primary Care, States, Workforce, Nurses

Turning Consumers Into Shoppers: Using High-Deductible Plans Wisely

As insurance exchanges emerge next year, and as states grapple with exactly what options health plans will provide, high-deductible health plans (HDHPs) are likely to be on the menu. But do such plans have the secret sauce to move participants from being...

Published Thu, Oct 18 2012 9:05 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Prevention, Insurance, States, Spending, Comparative Effectiveness

Do Medicare And Medicaid Payment Rates Really Threaten Physicians with Bankruptcy?

Physicians for years now have claimed that their practices lose money when treating Medicare or Medicaid patients. Doctors use these assertions to portray themselves as yearning to offer treatment to the elderly or indigent but unable to do so due to...

Published Tue, Oct 02 2012 8:23 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Insurance, Payment, Physicians, Medicare, Access, Medicaid

The Top Ten Health Affairs Blog Posts For September

A post on improving care transitions leads the list of most-read Health Affairs Blog posts for September. Second on the list is Martin Makary's post on excessive executive compensation at children's hospitals, followed by Jeff Goldsmith's...

Published Thu, Oct 04 2012 10:34 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Policy, Politics, Public Opinion, Medicare, Coverage, Quality, Hospitals, Comparative Effectiveness

Young Leader Award Winners Announced As RWJF Celebrates Fortieth Anniversary

Editor's Note: This post originally appeared on GrantWatch Blog , Health Affairs Blog's sister blog. The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) , based in Princeton, New Jersey, announced the ten winners of an award for young people with “strong...

Published Thu, Oct 25 2012 1:16 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Innovation, Health Philanthropy

Assuring Post-Acute Care Treatment for Medicare Beneficiaries

A federal judge in Vermont may soon act to approve a proposed settlement in a national class action suit, Jimmo v. Sebelius . In the case, the plaintiffs argue that Medicare contractors and administrative officials have been denying nursing and therapy...

Published Wed, Oct 31 2012 8:01 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, Spending, Medicare, Access, Quality, Health Law

October 2012 - Health Affairs

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