preventative care news from FierceHealthcare

If House lawmakers have their way, the oft-criticized sustainable growth-rate equation used to calculate Medicare payments for doctors will be a thing of the past by next year, reports Modern... Read more...

Senators Kent Conrad (D-ND) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) have asked the Government Accountability Office to find best practices used by states and other countries, as well as individual hospitals,... Read more...

Though they've made big progress, retail/convenient clinic operators... Read more...

The Agency for health care Research and Quality has issued two reports on the quality of healthcare in America. Overall, healthcare is improving at a modest pace, but the nation's poor and uninsured don't have the same access to preventative medicine as others do. In addition, the agency found that differences in the care received by minorities continue to persist. "It's encouraging to learn that overall quality continues to improve. At the same time, the message is clear: Much more can …

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> TMF Health Quality Institute and the Texas Association for Home Care have joined a national CMS partnership designed to reduce the number of hospital visits from home health agencies. The state of Texas could save $13.5 million each year by focusing on preventative care to eliminate unnecessary hospital visits from home health agencies. Report

> Illinois' Cook County …

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While a tiny 1 percent of U.S. workers are enrolled in CDHPs, lots of people are suggesting that they have an extremely rosy future, notably the health insurance industry, the employers who see big cost savings, and the banks slavering over the profits from the be made a billion-dollar inflow of health savings account funding. Still, those without financial skin in the game, such as The …

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Employers like expense-shaving consumer-driven health plans, according to a survey by the Employee Benefit Research Institute Research and the Commonwealth Fund. But consumers? Not so much. The survey reached 3,158 privately insured adults aged 21 to 64, and used that data to project U.S. trends. The two groups found that only 1 percent of privately-insured Americans--about 1.3 million individuals--are enrolled in CDHPs, which often have a $1,000 initial deductible for individuals and a …

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> Congress has passed a new law allowing doctors to treat up to 100 patients for opioid dependence using FDA-approved medication. Release

> Oregon legislators draft a new universal health care plan for the state, intended for approval in 2007. Article

> Doctors who approve patient …

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When CDHPs offer health promotion and wellness incentives, they can succeed in making a positive impact on members' health behaviors, according to a newly-released study by insurance brokerage and consulting firm Aon. The study analyzed plans provided by South Africa's Discovery Health and subsidiaries, including U.S.-based Destiny Health, covering more than two million lives.

Among other conclusions, the study found that monetary, vacation and merchandise rewards for desirable …

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One way or the other, you're going to end up treating the uninsured. So why not cut your losses, and along the way, salvage your bottom line? That seems to be the thinking behind an emerging practice in which some forward-thinking hospitals are providing free preventative care to uninsured working poor patients who don't qualify for public medical funding. One proponent of this approach is the Seton Family of Hospitals, an Austin, TX-based Roman Catholic hospital network. Through its …

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