For Hospitals, There’s No App For That
Hospitals are usually eager to embrace the latest medical technology, but the road to deploying tablet computers has been bumpy.
When ‘Critical Access’ Hospitals Are Not So Critical
A Medicare program intended to preserve “critical access” to rural hospitals may have grown beyond that goal, possibly keeping open hospitals that should close.
Foster Kids More Likely To Be Given Psychotropic Drugs
Kids in foster care are significantly more likely than other children to be given mind-altering drugs, according to a study of five states released Thursday by the Government Accountability Office. The report, which focused on children in the Medicaid program, also found that foster kids were more likely to be prescribed five or more psychotropic drugs at a […]
ACOs Are Bursting Out All Over
Accountable Care Organizations are the hot new health care trend, and there’s a new study out by Leavitt Partners trying to quantify just how hot they really are. ACOs, as defined in the 2010 health law, are a delivery model that offers doctors and hospitals financial incentives to provide good quality care to Medicare beneficiaries […]
Treating A Scorpion Sting: $ 100 In Mexico Or $ 12,000 In U.S.
Say you’re trekking through the desert in Mexico, minding your own business, when all of a sudden a scorpion scrambles up your boot and stings your leg. You hobble over to a nearby clinic, where you’re given a dose of anti-venom that brings you fast relief. The charge for the serum is about $100. Now […]
Health Insurance Premiums Soar In All 50 States
Another day, another piece of bad news about health insurance premiums. A state-by-state analysis finds that from 2003 to 2010, premiums for family coverage increased an average of 50 percent. At that rate, the average family premium would balloon to nearly $24,000 by 2020, according to the study, which was conducted by The Commonwealth Fund, […]
HHS Releases Final Regulations For ACOs
KHN staff writers Jenny Gold and Phil Galewitz report on the new rule, which will make it easier for health care providers to participate in the new models of delivering health care.
To Curb Abortions, States Focus On The ‘Supply-Side’
States enacted a record number of abortion restrictions in the first half of 2011, many of them requiring 24-hour waiting periods, ultrasounds or parental permission to deter women from obtaining abortions. But these types of “demand-side policies” have not had much of an impact in the past on national abortion rates, according to an article […]
Pharmacists Inject New Vigor Into Flu Shot Market
Majority of Americans still get their vaccinations from a doctor but more than 18 percent were immunized at a supermarket or drugstore last year.
Demise Of Pa. Plan For Low-Income Adults Leaves Many Uninsured
Six months after the state ended the adultBasic health coverage, only about 40 percent of the enrollees went to Medicaid or a limited benefit plan opened to them.
‘Poster Boys’ Take A Pass On Pioneer ACO Program
Leading hospital systems didn’t apply for Medicare reform tailor-made by the Obama administration to reward such organizations.
SSI Program For ADHD, Other Disabled Kids Under Scrutiny
The SSI program for low-income disabled children is rapidly expanding, with the biggest increase among kids with mental, behavioral and learning disorders, including ADHD, speech delays, autism, and bipolar disorder, sparking criticism in Congress.
Study: Fewer Doctors Are Offering Abortions
For women seeking an abortion, finding a doctor willing to offer the procedure is easier said than done. Ninety-seven percent of obstetrician-gynecologists have encountered patients wanting an abortion, but only 14 percent performed them, according to a study published today in the journal Obstetrics and Gynecology. Access to abortion has become more limited over the […]
Hospitals Gobble Up More Doctors
The race among hospitals to hire local physicians is heating up, even though the consequences for the cost and quality of health care are still unclear. The trend isn’t new, but hospitals in metropolitan areas across the country are quickening their pace, “driven largely by hospitals’ quest to increase market share and revenue,” according a […]
Kids Health Coverage At Risk, Advocates Worry
Lawmakers largely spared Medicaid and Medicare in the debt deal signed by President Barack Obama Tuesday. But activists say health programs aren’t yet out of the woods, and low-income children may be at risk. An initial cap on discretionary spending, expected to save $917 billion over 10 years, does not include cuts to the government’s […]
Antidepressants Often Prescribed Without A Diagnosis
Antidepressants are the third most common type of medication prescribed in the U.S., with $10 billion a year in sales. Nearly three out of four of those prescriptions are written by non-psychiatric providers (many of them primary care physicians). A study in the journal Health Affairs reports that a growing number of patients receiving antidepressants from […]
Community Hospital In Rural Arizona Finds Innovative Ways To Survive
The Copper Queen Hospital in Bisbee over the past four years has made a surplus of 5 to 10 percent, a margin much higher than rural hospital averages. But it is a success that officials fear won’t continue as Arizona reduces overall health spending by $500 million in 2012.
Free Birth Control For Many, Courtesy of HHS
With co-payments of $10 to $35 a month, birth control pills can add up to an expensive precaution for American women, even those with private insurance. But a new rule issued today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services makes those fees a worry of the past for many insured women. Under the health […]
IOM Recommends Free Birth Control For All
American women ought to be able to get their birth control for free, according to a new report from the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The group is the latest to weigh in on which preventive services health insurers should have to offer at no cost under the new health law. Officials at the Department of Health […]
Give Teeth A Chance, Says New IOM Report
Millions of people each year are skipping out on their annual trip to the dentist. And it’s not because they’re afraid of the drill. Many people just can’t find a dentist or can’t pay for a visit: 33.3 million Americans live in a region with a shortage of dental professionals; kids, seniors and minorities are particularly […]
