Here's What Happens To Your Medical Bills When Your Doctor Joins Forces With A Hospital
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WH
Dr. Peter Ubel, writing in
Forbes on
6.30.16, reports:
For much of the history of U.S. medical care, hospitals and physicians have existed as separate financial entities. Physicians in the U.S. have typically been self-employed, as solo or group practitioners and not as hospital employees. An internist like me might have admitting privileges to several local hospitals...
The U.S. government is trying to change that. The
Medicare program is encouraging healthcare providers to consolidate forces into entities like accountable care organizations, in hopes that such integration will increase healthcare efficiency. These hopes exist because some of the most respected healthcare institutions in the country-places like the
Kaiser Permanente system and the
Mayo Clinic -have long integrated their physicians with hospitals.
WIM
...a study published in
JAMA Internal Medicine, led by
Hannah Neprash out of
Harvard Medical School...explored what happened to healthcare spending when physicians and hospitals integrated. They discovered that outpatient spending rises as physicians gain market power through their hospital alliance. The spending increases are due almost entirely to price increases.
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Why Do So Many Pop Stars Die Young?
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WH
Dr. Greg Hall, in a
June 28
CNN
post, writes:
Prince's autopsy has determined that the artist died of an accidental overdose of the synthetic opioid
fentanyl. The news comes on the heels of the death of former
Megadeth drummer
Nick Menza, who collapsed on stage and died in late May.
Indeed, it seems as though before we can even finish mourning the loss of one pop star, another falls. There's no shortage of groundbreaking artists who die prematurely, whether it's
Michael Jackson,
Elvis Presley or
Hank Williams.
As a physician, I've begun to wonder: Is being a superstar incompatible with a long, healthy life? Are there certain conditions that are more likely to cause a star's demise? And finally, what might be some of the underlying reasons for these early deaths?
To find out the answer to each of these questions, I analyzed the 252 individuals who made
Rolling Stone's list of the 100 greatest artists of the rock & roll era.
WIM
The author points out that:
82 of the 252 members of the Rolling Stone list of greatest artists have died and the average age of death was 49, the same as Chad, the country with the lowest life expectancy
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Artificial Pancreas Approval Near
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WH
Michelle Cortez in a
Bloomberg
post on
June 27, 2016:
Medtronic Plc has filed for U.S. approval of the first artificial pancreas, a device the size of a smartphone that wirelessly connects an insulin pump and glucose monitor. The equipment, which remains outside the body, can take over for the malfunctioning organ that's supposed to naturally produce insulin, the hormone that converts blood sugar to energy.
WIM
According to the author:
The discovery of insulin almost a century ago was one of the most remarkable achievements in medical history, transforming a deadly disease into a manageable one. Now diabetics are on the cusp of another breakthrough, one that could ease the endless task of manually testing and adjusting their blood sugar levels.
...Medtronic expects the
FDA to rule on the device within a year.
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| About Us |
Florida Health Industry Week in Review is published every Monday by
FHIcommunications.
Each Monday morning we share the top healthcare headlines of the previous week and summarize
What Happened (WH) and
Why It Matters (WIM).
To learn how you can join our team of editorial contributors, contact
Jeffrey Herschler.
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