A Health Affairs study discovered that nearly two-thirds of Medicare Advantage psychiatrist networks, or 64.6%, were narrow in 2019. Comparatively, about 43.1% of Medicaid managed care networks were narrow and 39.5% of ACA Marketplaces were narrow.
The Health Affairs study found that in 2006, 10.7% of primary care visits addressed mental health concerns, compared 15.9% by 2016 and 2018, representing a 50% increase.
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
A randomized, controlled three-year study of workplace wellness programs found no significant improvement in health outcomes for employees or cost. In fact, there was no improvement in self-reported health behaviors for employees who participated for the full 3-year period compared with those who participated for just 18 months.
Enrollment in Medicare Advantage plans grew rapidly between 2009 and 2018, with the largest increases seen among Black, Hispanic and dual enrollee — that is enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid — populations. This indicates that payers will need to play a key role in addressing health inequities.
Researchers examined a program that paid workers between $25 and $500 for using price transparency tools and choosing a lower cost provider for 131 different elective medical services.
"Introducing telehealth into underserved communities generates new demand for services such as procedures or tests that can’t be done through video conferencing."
The progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping patient care, across various dimensions, from facilitating faster discharge to curating treatment plans and suggesting lifestyle changes.
In states expanding Medicaid, rural hospitals saw a greater increase in Medicaid revenue than urban hospitals did.
People who got insurance through the ACA were significantly more likely to get prescription medications than they were before. And when they did, they typically ended up spending less of their own money for those drugs.
Healthcare spending is projected to account for more than one-fifth of GDP by the middle of next decade, reaching $5.63 trillion by then.
Blue Shield and Anthem have a history of problems with their provider directories. In November, the state Department of Managed Health Care fined Blue Shield $350,000 and Anthem $250,000 for “unacceptable inaccuracies.”
As technology advances, AI-powered tools will increasingly reduce the administrative burdens on healthcare providers.
The study, which appears in Health Affairs, is the first to examine whether legalization changes doctors’ clinical practice and whether it could curb public health costs.
After Massachusetts banned ambulance diversions in 2009, waiting times for patients admitted to the hospital fell by 10.4 percent at nine hospitals in the Boston area.
Whites were still the only racial group in which a majority of people with severe psychological distress get treatment. They were also the only group whose access to mental health services grew by a statistically significant amount since the ACA was passed.
Whether because of their size, their prestige or their influence in the community, they have more power to negotiate prices, meaning they can charge insurers more for the care they give.
The 231 hospitals the study identified had below average scores on quality measures but were awarded the bonuses because caring for their patients during their stays and in the 30 days following their discharge cost Medicare less than what it cost at half of hospitals evaluated in the program.