Changes to the Medicaid program backed by the Bush administration could cause New York City's public and private hospitals to lose more than $1 billion in state and federal funds for the training of doctors, according to an analysis. The change would end a revenue stream that the medical residencies rely on, and could have wide ramifications because New York hospitals train a large share of the nation's doctors. The city's Independent Budget Office analysis found that the proposed cut would cost the city's public hospitals about $390 million in federal and state funds, or about 7.5% of their overall budget. It would cost the city's private hospitals about $790 million, 4.4% of their total revenue.
Giving doctors cash rewards to reduce hospital spending helps control costs and does not affect quality or patients' access to care, according to a study by researchers at Arizona State University. The study compared six cardiac catheterization labs that implemented a gainsharing program to 123 non-gainsharing labs.
Researchers found that gainsharing reduced hospital costs by 7.4%, or $315 per patient. Nationwide use of gainsharing could slash hospital costs for coronary stent patients by about $195 million a year, according to the researchers.
The quality of care at "safety-net" hospitals that treat poor and underserved patients is lagging well behind hospitals that do not serve these patients, according to a study. The safety net hospitals rely on state and federal funding from Medicaid and other sources, and do not have the money to improve the quality of care at the same rate that better-funded hospitals do. In the study, researchers examined data collected between 2004 and 2006 from 3,665 safety-net and non-safety-net hospitals. They found that hospitals that cater to a low percentage of Medicaid patients had significantly more improvement in quality compared with safety-net hospitals.
Eli Lilly and Co. have endorsed legislation that would require prescription drug makers to disclose payments to doctors. The legislation addresses concerns that payments, such as picking up paying travel expenses for a conference at an exotic locale, can influence a doctor's prescribing habits. The legislation would not ban the payments, but require that companies report them beginning March 31, 2011. It would also pre-empt laws in the few states that already require drug makers to disclose their payments to doctors.
More than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, according to a study by Medco Health Solutions Inc. The most widely used drugs are those to lower high blood pressure and cholesterol, and doctors say the proportion of Americans on chronic medications can only grow. The data reflect not just worsening public health but better medicines for chronic conditions and more aggressive treatment by doctors, experts say.
The average premium for healthcare insurance in Tennessee jumped 10% in 2008, according to the 2008 Healthcare eSurvey. Nationally, the average premium increase for all industries was 11.1%, according to the survey. When comparing plans in 2008, 60.6 percent of Tennessee healthcare organizations offering PPO plans saw an average increase of 10 percent, while POS plans had average premium increases of 9 percent. To contain rising costs, Tennessee healthcare organizations used such things as wellness programs, benefit coordination, and/or a network of healthcare professionals.