400 Additional Hospitals Face Obamacare Readmission Penalties Totaling $428...
The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program was created by Obamacare to penalize hospitals with excess numbers of patients readmitted within 30 days of discharge following treatment for heart attack,...
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Per Patient Spending Higher in Hospital-Owned Physician Groups Than in...
Hospitals and multihospital systems have been acquiring medical groups and physician practices at a rapid pace. One cause is the financial incentives provided by Obamacare for physicians to join...
View ArticleReducing Readmissions Under Obamacare: Doctor’s Orders?
Last month I wrote about the rise of hospital readmission penalties in fiscal 2015 and questioned the Hospital Readmissions Reductions Program’s effectiveness in increasing quality of care, in part due...
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U.S. Property Rights Maintain Global Rank
The 2014 International Property Rights Index (IPRI), published by the Property Rights Alliance, ranks the United States 17th place overall in the world (from 17th in 2013 and 18th in 2011 and 2012)....
View ArticleThe Circular Firing Squad in U.S. Health Care
Who is to blame for the U.S. healthcare crisis? JAMA has published an opinion piece by three physicians illustrating a fundamental difficulty in identifying the causes of the healthcare crisis....
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Is the Medical-Malpractice Crisis Being Solved?
In a JAMA article published last month, Michelle Mello and colleagues review trends in medical-malpractice claims and med-mail insurance costs. Data show a decline in the rate of paid claims against...
View ArticleElectronic Health Records and Adolescents’ Privacy
This blog has written about complaints from both physicians and nurses regarding the costs and time devoured by using Electronic Health Records, which have been imposed on practices despite not adding...
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U.S. Ranks First in Intellectual Property Rights
The International IP Index, published by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Global Intellectual Property Center (GIPC) was released earlier this week. The full report can be found here. Now in its third...
View ArticleConsumer-Driven Childbirth in the New Bronze Age
Birth rates fall during economic downturns — especially among lower-income women. A 2012 study found that birth rates declined 8% during the recession from 2007 to 2010. Presumably this was due to...
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The Future of Medicine and the Internet of Things
As previously noted on this blog, investments in digital health ventures doubled in 2014. Institutions, analysts and MDs envision the opportunity to reduce the colossal inefficiency of current medical...
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