The worst thing that happens when hospitals close? Patients drive farther
People worry when a hospital nearby closes. But evidence shows it has little impact on health - besides more time in a car.
No one wins and no one loses in year one of Medicare quality incentives (and that’s bad)
More than 300 large medical groups are being penalized because they did not score well on quality measures or didn’t report their efforts to the government. But, in truth, that's a small amount of losers (and there were an even smaller amount of winners). The incentives will soon expand to all doctors who treat Medicare patients.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
Pretty hospitals don’t impress patients (maybe they could spend it on care?)
The sleek hospital tower that Johns Hopkins Medicine built in 2012 has the frills of a luxury hotel, including a meditation garden, 500 works of art, free wi-fi and a library of books, games and audio. As Dr. Zishan Siddiqui watched patients and some fellow physicians in Baltimore move from their decades-old building into the […]
Who is going to defeat the superbug (because federal policies sure aren’t working)?
The lethal infection is one of three that the CDC says urgently require close monitoring and prevention to halt their spread. 
Find out the stark difference between health insurance prices (and which regions pay the most)
In health insurance prices, as in the weather, Alaska and the Sun Belt are extremes. This year Alaska is the most expensive health insurance market for people who do not get coverage through their employers, while Phoenix, Albuquerque, N.M., and Tucson, Ariz., are among the very cheapest. In this second year of the insurance marketplaces […]
Tennessee’s largest health insurer used its monopoly to do the opposite of what you’d expect
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — The dominion of Tennessee’s largest health insurer is reflected in its headquarters’ lofty perch above the city, atop a hill that during the Civil War was lined with Union cannons to repel Confederate troops. BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has used its position to establish a similarly firm foothold in the first year […]
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A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Picky health plans come cheap in eastern Tennessee
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — Angela Allen’s struggle to ease her neck pain has been a huge pain in the neck. Her regular spine doctor does not accept the new insurance she bought through the federal health marketplace. Allen, who has two slipped disks in her neck vertebrae, said the closest specialist she found who would see […]
Understanding how Medicare calculates scores for hospital-acquired conditions
A quarter of the nation’s hospitals in October will receive lower Medicare payments because their rates of patient complications are higher than their peers. Federal officials released a preliminary analysis in April scoring hospitals and provisi...
More than 750 hospitals face $330M in penalties for patient injuries, infections
During a hernia operation, Dorothea Handron’s surgeon unknowingly pierced her bowel and sent her home. It took five days for doctors to determine she had an infection. By the time they operated on her again, she was so weakened that she was placed in a medically induced coma at Vidant Medical Center in Greenville, North […]
For second straight year, hospital readmission rate drops (but not enough)
Two major safety shortcomings in America’s hospitals—the frequency with which patients get hurt during their stays and the large number who are readmitted—have decreased as government penalties and other programs targeting them kick in. The Obama administration credited the new quality initiatives created by the federal health law. But some of the improvements in patient […]
Maximize Revenue and Patient Care with Strategic Weight Loss Management
We will highlight Build My Health's revenue practice management tools, which could help physician practices add up to $250,000 to their practices.
Doctors overlook lucrative procedures when naming unwise treatments
When America’s joint surgeons were challenged to come up with a list of unnecessary procedures in their field, their selections shared one thing: none significantly impacted their incomes. TheAmerican Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons discouraged&n...
Medicare data shows wide differences in ACOs’ patient care
Networks of doctors and hospitals set up under the Affordable Care Act to improve patients’ health and save money for Medicare are having varying rates of success in addressing their patients’ diabetes and heart disease, according to government data released Friday. The release is the first public numbers from Medicare of how patient care is […]
The 10 least expensive health insurance exchange markets in America
People in much of Minnesota, northwestern Pennsylvania and Tucson, Ariz., are getting the best bargains from the health care law’s new insurance marketplaces: premiums half the price or less than what insurers in the country’s most expensive places are charging. The 10 regions with the lowest premiums in the nation also include Salt Lake City, […]
ACA: Healthcare for those in southwest Georgia is far from ‘affordable’
ALBANY, Ga. — If Lee Mullins lived in Pittsburgh, he could buy mid-level health coverage for his family for $940 a month. If he lived in Beverly Hills, he would pay $1,405. But Mullins, who builds custom swimming pools, lives in Southwest Georgia. Here, a similar health plan for his family of four costs $2,654 […]
Here are the 10 most expensive insurance markets in the U.S.
These are the 10 regions of the country with the highest premiums for people buying insurance on the health law’s new marketplaces. The ranking is based on the lowest price “silver” plan, which is the mid-level plan that the majority of consumers are selecting. The listed monthly premiums are for a 40-year-old person and are […]