quality data
Study: Hospital costs vary greatly by location
New data from Dartmouth Medical School highlights a problem that is likely to become more widely discussed as health reform schemes--and related calls for pricing controls--continue to move forward.... Read more...
Medicare releases volume, customer satisfaction data
For the first time, Medicare has released volume and payment information for a list of selected conditions, along with the results from its new consumer satisfaction survey, the Hospital Consumer... Read more...
Group of hospitals joins BC of CA P4P program
A group of 23 hospitals have joined Blue Cross of California's new inpatient pay-for-performance program, which is structured to give the facilities adjustments to their inpatient fixed-payment... Read more...
Aetna takes back colonoscopy cuts
Responding to a storm of criticism, Aetna has agreed to suspend its plan to stop paying for use of a strong anesthetic during colonoscopies. Aetna had announced that it would no longer pay for... Read more...
MDs resisting Aetna colonoscopy anesthesia cuts
New Jersey doctors are up in arms over a plan by Aetna to drop coverage of the anesthesia typically used during colonoscopies. The physicians say that if Aetna doesn't cover the services of... Read more...
Seattle-area healthcare "checkup" finds deficiencies
A Seattle-area health alliance has conducted what it calls a "community checkup," examining care for more than 1.6 million patients--and concluded that performance was below current standards on many... Read more...
Unclear on how hospital data affects decisions
While public policy is very much in favor of providing detailed data on hospital performance and quality, there's little evidence to suggest that this data actually affects patient decisions,... Read more...
Aetna, AMA fight over out-of-network payments
Aetna and the American Medical Association are locked in a dispute over payments to out of network physicians--and whether consumers should bear the burden of any additional costs that the health... Read more...
Progress slow on hospital data in IL
When advocates vent over the slow adoption of consumer-driven healthcare spending, one place they should look is Illinois. The problems encountered there in becoming a more consumer-driven health... Read more...
Healthcare in '07: A year of living dangerously
In most industries, executives live with the fear that their entire business model could be stood on its head--that they could be the ones ending up making the buggy whips when horse-drawn carriages... Read more...
