The other P4P

The concept of pay-for-performance has been discussed repeatedly in this blog. But what about the other P4P: pay-for-participation? In the pay for participation model, payers compensate physicians to add infrastructure or partake in data collection. For instance, a health plan may pay providers to implement an electronic medical records system. Providers may also compensate physicians…

The best blogs on health and medicine

The Healthcare Economist blog was ranked as one of the top 100 health blogs according to Healthcare100.com [#51]. Some of my other favorite blogs which are also ranked in the top 100 (as of 18 June 2007) are: #8: The Health Care Blog. #33: Health Affairs Blog. #37: The Healthcare IT Guy. #48: Insure Blog.…

Health Care the nation’s #1 priority

According to a recent Christian Health Association poll, healthcare ranks at the top of most Americans’ priority lists.  Excluding Iraq, 29% of individuals believed that “providing affordable health care” was the most important issue facing America.  This was followed by “Ensuring homeland security” [22%]; “Reducing government spending and taxes” [19%], “Improving public education” [13%], and…

Gates gives $105m to study public-health programs

According to the Wall Street Journal (“Gates Grant Targets Health Gauges“), the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has donated $105 million to the University of Washington to establish an institute to measure the impact of public-health programs. The new institute which will be created will focus on quantitative measures of health and will be headed…

Tax Paris Hilton, not Britney Spears

Jason’s Furman’s blog post on The Economist‘s Free Exchange blog not only has a clever title, but makes a clear argument against an estate tax and in favor of a inheritance tax. Philosophically, this amounts to taxing those who inherit wealth (Paris), but not those who general the wealth (Britney). He cites a paper by…

Ultimate Buy and Hold

What is the optimal asset allocation?  Of course the answer to this question depends on where you are in life and your tolerance for risk.  A retired person who is 70 years old likely should have a higher percentage of their assets invested in money market funds and bonds than a 35 year old with…

State Health Care Rankings

New rankings are available detailing the quality of care received in different states. The Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research (AHQR) gives some State Snapshots based on National Healthcare Quality Report. My home state of Wisconsin is ranked #1 according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (“State is No. 1…“). The Commonwealth Fund also has a…

Vaccination Externalities

Externalities are a basic concept in the economics of health care. Yet actual ACIP policies do not pay significant attention to externality issues. The rationale for vaccination recommendations often doesn’t consider strategies to target sub-populations, such as school children, that are most likely to generate negative externalities by spreading the disease. A paper by Boulier,…