Health Affairs

Slowdown in health care spending growth could save Americans $770 billion, study finds

A slowdown in the growth of U.S. health care costs could mean that Americans could save as much as $770 billion on Medicare spending over the next decade, Harvard economists say.

Health created May 06, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Study highlights important role that patients play in determining outcomes

When it comes to health care, patients with the motivation, knowledge, skills and confidence to manage their own health have better health outcomes and incur fewer health care costs.

Health created Feb 04, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Combination pill could be cost effective in preventing heart disease

(Medical Xpress)—A single combination pill could reduce cardiovascular disease and stroke in Latin Americans by up to 21 percent at a cost of about $35 per quality adjusted life year gained, according to a study led by ...

Cardiology created Jan 16, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

U.S. efforts to boost number of primary care doctors have failed

(HealthDay)—Amid signs of a growing shortage of primary care physicians in the United States, a new study shows that the majority of newly minted doctors continues to gravitate toward training positions ...

Health created Jan 10, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Looming malpractice: Waiting for claims resolution takes up more than ten per cent of the average medical career

The average physician can expect to spend nearly 11 per cent of his or her career with a malpractice claim waiting to be resolved. Some specialists will spend nearly a third of their careers with open claims.

Health created Jan 07, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Managing care and competition: Efficiencies of integrated care and improved risk assessment seen in Medicare Advantage

Medicare Advantage (MA), with more than 10 million enrollees, is the largest alternative to traditional Medicare. MA's managed care approach was designed to provide coordinated, integrated care for patients and savings for ...

Health created Dec 03, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

US performs worst on potentially preventable death rates compared to France, Germany, and the UK

The United States lags three other industrialized nations—France, Germany, and the United Kingdom—in its potentially preventable death rate, and in the pace of improvement in preventing deaths that could have been avoided ...

Health created Aug 29, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Poorest Americans at risk if states opt out of Medicaid expansion

Health coverage for the poorest Americans could be in jeopardy in many states as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling last month on the Affordable Care Act, according to a new legal analysis. The report examines federal ...

Health created Aug 06, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0 | with audio podcast

More education, socioeconomic benefits equals longer life

Despite advances in health care and increases in life expectancy overall, Americans with less than a high school education have life expectancies similar to adults in the 1950s and 1960s.

Health created Aug 06, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 0 | with audio podcast

Why cutting-edge medical technology may not lead to exploding health care costs

Sophisticated medical imaging is often cited as a leading driver of health care costs. The increasing availability of techniques such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron ...

Health created Jul 27, 2012 | popularity 5 / 5 (1) | comments 9 | with audio podcast

Global Budget Payment Model lowers medical spending, improves quality

A new study suggests that global budgets for health care, an alternative to the traditional fee-for-service model of reimbursement, can slow the growth of medical spending and improve the quality of care for patients.

Health created Jul 11, 2012 | popularity not rated yet | comments 1 | with audio podcast

Social considerations not accounted for in DSM-5

(HealthDay)—Social and population variations in mental diagnosis are not accounted for in the newly revised fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5), according to ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created May 14, 2013 | popularity 5 / 5 (2) | comments 1

Increase in medical treatment caused greatest increase in US health care costs

The increasing proportion of the population that received treatment for a specific medical condition – called "treated disease prevalence"—along with higher spending per treated case accounted for most of the rise in ...

Health created May 06, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Medical innovation/quality improvement platform featured in Health Affairs

A quality improvement platform developed at Boston Children's Hospital could help health care provider groups continuously improve their medical practice, curbing costs and improving patient outcomes. Successful outcomes ...

Health created May 06, 2013 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

Examine social factors to explain rise in diagnoses of mental disorders, researchers say

(Medical Xpress)—Examining social factors is vital to better explaining and understanding the dramatic rise in the number of Americans diagnosed with mental disorders in recent years, according to an analysis by a team ...

Psychology & Psychiatry created Apr 26, 2013 | popularity 3.5 / 5 (2) | comments 1