Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
In December, CMS listed its quality measures that it is considering for incorporation into some of their value-based payment programs and quality reporting programs. However, which Medicare quality reporting and payment initiatives use quality measures? A full list is below. Ambulatory Surgical Center Quality Reporting Program (ASCQR) End-Stage Renal Disease Quality Incentive Program (ESRD QIP)…
Defining which cancer treatments are the “best” is not as easy as you think. At first glance, treatments that produce the largest survival gains should be considered best. Most cancer treatments come with serious side effects. Thus, new treatments that better improve survival may also increase the risk of adverse events (although in some cases–like…
A feel good research study from Sumedha Gupta (2018): Cognitive decline among the elderly imposes a large welfare and health care cost on the individual as well as society. Little however is known about factors that can mitigate cognitive decline. Using seven waves of the Health and Retirement Study and a fixed effects – instrumental…
Serialization. DNA nanorobots. Do dry laws save money? Deliver a highly-effective vaccine — or go home. Slowing pace of life expectancy gains. FDA offers fast track to Alzheimer’s treatments. Pharmacist Amazon?
The Innovation and Value Initiative (IVI) – a collaboration of academics, patient advocacy organizations, payers, life sciences companies, providers, delivery systems, and other organizations dedicated to finding scientifically credible approaches to measuring value in health care – today released a report examining imbalances in cost-effectiveness analyses (CEAs) across pharmaceuticals, medical/surgical treatments, and mixed procedures. The report, Expanding Cost-Effectiveness…
In statistics, most statistical tests aim to trade off type I and type II errors. Type I error is the incorrect rejection of a true null hypothesis, in other words a false positive. Type II errors are the incorrect retaining a false null hypothesis; in other words, a false negative. Oftentimes, the null hypothesis is posed…
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has a publicly available data source you can use to find this information. Known as HIX Compare, the data contain descriptions of plans in the individual and small group markets across all 50 states. HIX Compare is the only dataset with information on nearly every individual and small group marketplace plan…
According to a Health Economics paper by Alice Chen, Anthony Lo Sasso, and Michael R. Richards, the answer is ‘yes’. According to their study: We leverage a unique dataset on New York physicians to analyze if and how the Great Recession impacted the labor market of physicians who have completed their residency and fellowship training and are…
NICE, NHS and cancer drug reimbursement in the UK. Why Medicare Advantage succeeds where Marketplace fails Do 40% of UK docs want to leave the profession? Unintended consequences of abuse-deterrent opioids. “Use a smart toothbrush and get dental insurance at a discount!”
The latest edition of the Health Wonk Review–the Going for the Gold Edition— has been posted at HealthInsurance.org. Thanks to Steve Anderson for hosting. Check it out!