Healthcare negotiations with some Pennsylvania Senate Republicans are progressing and could result in a deal to cover hundreds of thousands of uninsured adults and pay for generic prescription drugs, Gov. Ed Rendell said during a recent conference call. The surplus in a tobacco-tax-funded account that helps doctors pay malpractice premiums has grown so large, Rendell said, that the state can insure about 200,000 more adults in the first year and about 400,000 adults within three years. He is now urging the General Assembly to add more session days before the Nov. 4 election to work on healthcare legislation.
Many large U.S.-based physician groups lack the essential elements needed to create patient-centered "medical homes" designed to put primary-care doctors in charge of coordinating care, according to a study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco. The medical home model is seen by many in the healthcare industry as a promising way to address problems with the country's healthcare delivery system, with supporters believing that comprehensive primary care can ensure the best outcomes for patients. But the study of large medical groups with at least 20 physicians found that the practices are lagging in key areas needed to created a medical home.
Typical clients of retail health clinics in the United States include patients who don't have regular healthcare providers and are seeking preventive care or help for easy-to-treat illnesses, according to a study by the RAND Corporation. Reseachers analyzed more than 1.3 million visits to retail clinics between 2000 and 2007 and compared their findings to national data on visits to primary care physician offices and hospital emergency departments.
In this posting on The Beryl Institute's blog, the author describes how his six year-old daughter was experiencing what he believed were seasonal allergies. Her symptoms weren't serious enough for an ER visit, so he took her to the Minute Clinic at the local CVS Pharmacy. He says the wait was short and the service was good, but what impressed him most was their follow up.
A new survey reports that in 2009, 59% of companies intend to pass more health insurance costs on to their workers. For the employees who are going to have money taken out of their pockets next year, you can bet that most of them are going to assume that that money is going right into their local hospital's bank account, writes blogger Stephen Texeira.
The method of testing ad campaigns should be determined in the same way the rest of your marketing is determined: potential return on investment. Not every test is right for your marketing objectives. A test that works well against one strategy may not work well or provide the same ROI when applied to a different strategy.