Health Affairs

New Cardiac Surgery Programs: Improving Access Or Duplicating Services?

With cardiac services contributing 25 to 40 percent of a hospital’s net revenues, do new cardiac surgery programs improve access or exacerbate the duplication of services? To answer this question, the authors of a new Health Affairs Web First article...

Published Mon, Jun 27 2011 12:35 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Spending, Competition, Access, Hospitals

Health Affairs Briefing: New Directions In Systems Innovation

On July 7, 2011, Health Affairs will unveil its July 2011 issue, “New Directions In Systems Innovations.” The issue explores ongoing innovations in health care organization, delivery and financing across a broad front – from Vermont’s...

Published Mon, Jun 27 2011 7:36 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Policy, Payment, States, Coverage, Hospitals, Innovation, Aging

Establishing Sensible Cost-Sharing For Medicare Cancer Patients

A new study by Avalere Health, presented at the recent meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, analyzed the pharmacy claims of 10,508 commercially-insured and Medicare patients who required oral therapy for cancer. The purpose of the study...

Published Fri, Jun 24 2011 8:19 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Policy, Chronic Care, Health Care Costs, Medicare, Pharma

Obesity Epidemic May Make Mortality Gains Short-Lived

For those who assume that the next generation of Americans will live longer than their parents, a new “three-dimensional” method of forecasting vital health statistics shows how this may not prove to be the case. Most Americans enjoy better health today...

Published Thu, Jun 23 2011 8:49 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Nonmedical Determinants, Public Health, Prevention, Chronic Care, Children, Obesity

An ACO Is Born In Camden, But Can It Flourish In Medicaid?

Across the country, policy experts are heralding accountable care organizations (ACOs) as the way to rethink the delivery of higher quality and more efficient care. Yet Medicaid, which cares for many of the nation’s sickest and highest-cost patients,...

Published Thu, Jun 23 2011 8:41 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Payment, Health IT, Primary Care, States, Spending, Medicare, Quality, Disparities, Medicaid

Implementing Health Reform: The Appeals Process Amended Rule

Editor’s Note: This is the latest in a series of posts by Timothy Jost on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act. Earlier posts have analyzed some important guidances, as well as provisions governing state waiver requests, student health plans...

Published Thu, Jun 23 2011 7:32 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Consumers, Policy, Politics, Insurance, States

A ‘Physician Fallow’ Program To Improve Quality, Safety, And Costs

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Rita Redberg MD, a cardiologist and Chief Editor of Archives of Internal Medicine, described the American health system’s penchant for delivering high volumes of “procedures and devices [to] patients who get no benefit...

Published Wed, Jun 22 2011 12:12 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Payment, Physicians, Health Care Costs, Spending, Quality, Patient Safety

Setting The Record Straight On Drug Shortages

John Goodman of the National Center for Policy Analysis (NCPA) says in a June 8 Health Affairs Blog entry that the Public Health Service 340B drug discount program is part of a “web of [federal] regulations that are preventing life saving drugs...

Published Tue, Jun 21 2011 10:15 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Consumers, Payment, Competition, Pharma, Hospitals

Briefing: Patient Perspectives On California’s Safety Net

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) will change the health care landscape for all safety net providers and those they serve. Blue Shield of California Foundation and Health Affairs are pleased to present results from a new poll by Langer...

Published Mon, Jun 20 2011 6:03 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, States, Quality, Medicaid

The Mixed (De)Merits Of ‘Bending The Cost Curve’

Political scientists emphasize the importance of “framing” in policy debates. The health care cost control debate in the United States has been reframed by the promotion of a metaphor, “bending the curve.” This metaphor has merits but they are decidedly...

Published Fri, Jun 17 2011 6:41 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Policy, Politics, Health Care Costs, Spending

U.S. Approves Cancer Drugs Faster Than Europe

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is often criticized as inefficient compared to its European counterpart, the European Medicines Agency (EMA), particularly in the field of oncology. However, a new study published online today by Health Affairs...

Published Thu, Jun 16 2011 9:57 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Politics, Pharma

Health Policy Brief: Medicare Advantage

A new Health Policy Brief from Health Affairs and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation describes the provision in the Affordable Care Act of 2010 that will gradually reduce federal payments to the Medicare Advantage program. Roughly one in four of the nation...

Published Thu, Jun 16 2011 9:00 AM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Medicare

States And Health IT: Upcoming Conference

As mentioned before on this blog, Health Affairs is the official media sponsor for the upcoming 2011 State Healthcare IT Connect Summit, June 21-23 in Dulles, Virginia. If you are interested in the conference but can’t attend in person, you can...

Published Tue, Jun 14 2011 1:55 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Health Reform, Health IT, States

The ‘Decade Of Vaccines’: Promise And Challenge

Vaccinating children around the world against infectious diseases has saved the lives of millions over the past several decades. Now new opportunities exist to overcome remaining challenges, according to articles in the June 2011 issue of Health Affairs...

Published Tue, Jun 14 2011 12:31 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Public Health, Prevention, Global Health, Children

Remembering Barbara Starfield: A Primary Care Champion

Barbara Starfield, a seminal figure in the health services research community who made landmark contributions in primary care and other areas, died suddenly on Friday, June 10, of an apparent heart attack. Health Affairs extends its deepest sympathies...

Published Mon, Jun 13 2011 1:02 PM by Health Affairs Blog

Filed under: All Categories, Policy, Primary Care, Disparities, Children

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