Latest KFF Health News Stories
Study Finds Almost Half Of Health Law Plans Offer Very Limited Physician Networks
More than 40 percent of the plans included less than a quarter of the doctors in the area, University of Pennsylvania researchers found.
Controversies Made Preventive Services Panel Stronger, Says Retired Leader
Dr. Michael LeFevre, who has stepped down as chairman of the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force after 10 years, describes how the health law changed the group’s work and the need to improve communication about it.
California Law Will Allow Pharmacists To Prescribe Birth Control
As soon as this fall, pharmacists in California will be able to prescribe birth control. While some doctors’ groups are skeptical, lawmakers say pharmacists can fill a need for primary care providers, especially in rural areas.
Organ Donation: State Efforts Have Done Little To Close The Supply Gap
A study published in JAMA Internal Medicine found that most state-based policies to encourage organ donation in the United States have fallen flat.
Insurer Uses Patients’ Personal Data To Predict Who Will Get Sick
A Philadelphia health insurance company analyzes its clients’ health data and other factors to find the frailest and assign them health coaches. That may improve health, but is it a breach of privacy?
EHealth Sees Once-Thriving Business Decline Due To Health Law Exchanges
The nation’s largest online broker lost thousands of customers, but some analysts suggest that if the Supreme Court strikes down subsidies on the federal exchange, some may return to the company.
A Top Medical School Revamps Requirements To Lure English Majors
At Mount Sinai Medical School in New York City, many of the medical students majored in things like English or history, and they never took the MCAT. The institution sees that diversity as one of its biggest strengths.
KHN Video: Filling In The Gaps
This video features specially trained paramedic Ryan Ramsdell, who is part of an ambitious plan in Reno, Nevada, to overhaul the 911 system to improve patient care and cut costs.
Paramedics Steer Non-Emergency Patients Away From ERs
In Reno and around the country, community paramedics are providing more care themselves and taking non- emergency patients to facilities other than emergency rooms.
Cancer Spawns Construction Boom In Cleveland
When the Cleveland Clinic opens its new cancer center, it will be five minutes away from a competitor’s new cancer hospital.
Hospitals Increasingly Turn To Patients For Advice
Federal efforts are driving hospitals to see patients as customers.
What’s At Stake In The Supreme Court Obamacare Case
Despite political opposition to the Affordable Care Act, more than 186,000 people in Louisiana signed up for health insurance through healthcare.gov. The vast majority of those received subsidies, which could be lost in the King v. Burwell case before the Supreme Court.
Google Glass In The ER? Health Care Moves One Step Closer To Star Trek …
Researchers at a Rhode Island hospital studied how Google Glass technology could be used to beam the images of emergency-room patients to specialists in different locations.
FAQ: Congress Passes A Bill To Fix Medicare’s Doctor Payments. What’s In It?
A rare bipartisan effort will scrap the troubled physician payment formula and transition to a system focused on new quality measures.
Patient-Doctor Relationship Forged Through Computer Screens
Through LiveHealth Online, Missouri’s largest insurer allows members to connect to doctors around the country from their computer, tablet or phone.
Coalition Hopes To Amp Up Push For Health Care Transparency
A new coalition of insurers, pharmaceutical companies, and provider and consumer advocacy groups launched an initiative to make more information available to consumers about the actual costs of health services.
Medical Schools Try To Reboot For 21st Century
The American Medical Association is funding experiments at universities around the country to try to change how we train physicians.
Houston Firefighters Bring Digital Doctors On Calls
The city is harnessing telemedicine to cut down on the overwhelming number of residents seeking primary care help by calling 911.
Dr. Donald Lindberg: Thirty Years At The Intersection Of Computers, Medicine And Information Sharing
Lindberg retired this month after 30 years at the National Institutes of Health National Library of Medicine where he worked to put research online so that doctors could have the latest medical advancements at their fingertips, and patients could become increasingly engaged in their own care.
Georgia Insurers, Doctors Partner To Improve Patient Care, Cut Costs
Primary care providers are teaming up with insurers, hospitals and others to improve patients’ health by coordinating their care and, the theory goes, curbing out-of-control health care costs.
