Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
According to a recent paper by Kyanko, Curry and Busch (2003), 8 percent of insured individuals used an out-of-network physician. Why are people using out-of-network services? The authors give the following breakdown. Approximately 40 percent of individuals using out-of-network physicians experienced involuntary out-of-network care. Whereas fifteen percent of outpatient out-of-network contacts were involuntary, almost 60…
As most people know, President Obama promised that everyone could keep their old insurance if they liked it. Although most people are able to keep their old insurance, some people certainly are not and the president has gotten major political heat for this. Today, the Obama administration responded to the critics. The Washington Post WonkBlog…
Oftentimes, health services research measure access as the distance between a patient and the nearest provider of a given type (e.g., hospital, physician). This issue of access is particularly relevant for individuals with cancer, since cancer care typically requires supervisions from specialist oncologists. In most cases, health services researchers assume that individuals located far from…
Matt Becker makes his CavRisk hosting debut with a tremendous collection of interesting posts and excellent commentary on each one at Mom and Dad Money.
More and more its CMS (i.e., Medicare and Medicaid) or private insurance. Out-of-pocket spending for drugs is falling. Source: Deloitte. “Value-based pricing for pharmaceuticals: Implications of the shift from volume to value” Issue Brief, 2012.
Many of the health care workers serving Americans were either born or educated abroad? Where do they come from? A paper by Chen et al. (2013) gives the answer. Top 5 countries for foreign educated physicians India: 20.4% Philippines: 8.1% Pakistan: 6.0% Mexico: 5.4% Dominican Republic: 3.2% Top 5 countries for foreign educated nurses (RNs)…
This question is not so easy to answer, even when using data from a randomized trial. Further, many studies do not have the statistical power to identify cause-specific mortality. Consider the following example from Kim and Thompson: Consider a trial of an intervention only influencing a single cause of death, or a few specific causes…
Reference pricing and the role of government. Rickets making a comeback in UK. Med school credit for Wikipedia entries? Why are UK housing prices so high? Obamacare gets real.
Brad Wright has posted a fresh edition of Health Wonk Review at his Wright on Health blog and you have to love the title: If You Like the Health Wonk Review You Currently Have, You Can Keep It.
Looks likes cuts to UK reimbursement rates for Pharma are on the way: People involved in the PPRS drug pricing talks have told the Financial Times on Tuesday, that drug companies operating in the UK have agreed the drugs bill to the NHS for their patented (but not generic drugs or vaccines) products will fall…