Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
What are the chances health reform is repealed? Find the answer to this question and the best of the health policy blog-o-sphere at Joe Paduda’s latest version of the Health Wonk Review at Managed Care Matters.
Pay-for-performance schemes have been attracting much attention of late. A RWJF policy paper from 2007 provides a nice overview of various P4P design considerations. Below, I summarize some of the key findings of this article. Timeline Early 1990s. Cost control measures in the early 1990s began a shift for rewarding physicians for specific actions. …
Finland has the same GDP level as which U.S. state? Patient advocacy groups hiding PhARMA dollars? Marginal benefit-based charitable giving. An app to cure cancer? Supporters of a health reform repeal. Census of economists working for the federal government.
I was watching Nightline last night and there was a story on interesting animal hybrids. These include Zedonks, Beefalos, Wholpins, and–as made famous in Napoleon Dynamite–ligers. Besides the obvious appeal of creating something never seen before, is it worthwhile to create these hybrids? One “expert” said that creating these crossbreeds upset the natural order of…
In Swaziland, a nationwide campaign is under way to circumcise 160,000 males by the end of this year. Not 160,000 male babies, 160,000 adult males. In a country with less than 1.5 million people, this is a huge undertaking. Why would the government of Swaziland promote adult circumcision so strongly? Here’s the answer: “…a randomized…
Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) are the latest rage in health policy circles. Health reform legislation will allow for federal health agencies to create waiver programs to allow for the creation of ACOs. For ACOs to actually come to fruition, the waivers must take into account existing laws which currently greatly limit the scope under which…
Health spending growth slows… but not as fast as the rest of the economy. Are drugs a substitute for psychotherapy for patients living in remote areas? Can a bicycle diagnose Parkinson’s? Does eating processed foods cause weight gain? Did Medicaid Reform reduce cost in Florida? Fighting the war on malaria.
Quango noun, acronym: Quango or qango is an acronym (variously spelt out as quasi non-governmental organisation, quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisation, and quasi-autonomous national government organisation) used notably in the United Kingdom, Ireland and elsewhere to label an organisation to which government has devolved power. In the United Kingdom the official term is “non-departmental public body” or…
Is health reform coming to the UK? Since the middle of the decade, the NHS has used a tariff system which pays a fixed price per procedure. Now, however, the Financial Times, reports that the UK plans for “public and private hospitals to compete on price for the treatment of NHS patients.” The reform calls…
What is multifactor productivity? Multifactor productivity (MFP) is a measure of real output per combined unit of labor and capital, reflecting the contributions of all factors of production. A change in multifactor productivity reflects the change in output that cannot be accounted for by the change in combined inputs. As a result, multifactor productivity measures…