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Obamacare’s star ratings offer a glimmer of insight ― but not for all

As millions of Americans start shopping Friday for individual health insurance for 2020, they will see federal ratings comparing the quality of health plans on the Affordable Care Act's insurance marketplaces.

1 Nov 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Spooky stuff

Open enrollment starts Nov. 1 in most states for people who buy health insurance under the Affordable Care Act. For the second year in a row, premiums for these individual market plans are down slightly, even without the federal tax penalty for those who remain uncovered.

31 Oct 2019

New study finds racial/ethnic variation in discharge destination after knee replacement surgery

A large study analyzing 107,000 knee replacement surgeries found that African Americans were significantly more likely than white patients to be discharged to an inpatient rehabilitation or skilled nursing facility rather than home care after the procedure. Researchers also found that African American patients under 65 were more likely to be readmitted to the hospital within 90 days of a knee replacement.

30 Oct 2019

Study examines link between gift-giving and opioid prescribing by medical specialty

Physicians who received gifts from pharmaceutical companies related to opioid medications were more likely to prescribe opioids to their patients the following year, compared to physicians who did not receive such gifts, according to a new analysis led by health policy scientists at the University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health.

30 Oct 2019

Medicare fraud and abuse associated with patient mortality, hospitalizations

Patients treated by health care professionals later excluded from the Medicare program for committing fraud and abuse were between 14 to 17 percent more likely to die than similar patients treated by non-excluded physicians, nurses, and other professionals, according to a new study from researchers at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

29 Oct 2019

AANA publishes new study on safety outcomes, cost-effectiveness of anesthesia delivery

The American Association of Nurse Anesthetists released a new study that suggests politics and professional interests are the main drivers of anesthesia policy in the United States.

29 Oct 2019

Moved overseas for school, stayed for insulin

Every now and then, Katie West considers returning to the United States. She moved to Germany for graduate school three years ago and now works as a health systems researcher in Hamburg. Her family is an ocean away. Then she remembers why she stays.

29 Oct 2019

Survey shows positive link between infection prevention certification and ASP comprehensiveness

Nearly half of all nursing homes do not have adequately trained infection prevention staff and their efforts to combat the over prescription of antibiotics are suffering as a result, according to a new study in the American Journal of Infection Control, the journal of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology, published by Elsevier.

25 Oct 2019

Study explores distribution of new diabetes cases and specialist density in the U.S.

In the last five years, the landscape of type 2 diabetes treatment has changed dramatically. Two new classes of drugs -- SGLT2 inhibitors and GLP-1 receptor agonists -- have been shown to prevent some of the most serious diabetes complications, including heart and kidney conditions, in patients.

25 Oct 2019

Study finds heightened risk of adverse financial outcomes prior to Alzheimer's diagnosis

Prior to an Alzheimer's diagnosis, a person in the early stages of the disease faces a heightened risk of adverse financial outcomes - a likely consequence of compromised decision making when managing money, in addition to exploitation and fraud by others.

25 Oct 2019

NYU Langone Health launches new molecular assay to identify patients with brain tumors

NYU Langone Health and its Perlmutter Cancer Center have launched clinical whole genome DNA methylation profiling for patients with brain tumors.

24 Oct 2019

Older women with DCIS gain no benefit from sentinel lymph node biopsy

Older women with a very early, non-invasive breast cancer known as ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS) gain no long-term benefit from undergoing a sentinel lymph node biopsy to see if the cancer has spread, new research by the Yale School of Public Health has found.

24 Oct 2019

Acquisitions by large, for-profit dialysis chains hurt patient health

As large, for-profit dialysis chains acquired more than 1,200 smaller providers across the U.S. from 1998 to 2010, they cut skilled medical staff, increased patient volumes, altered drug regimens and adopted other practices that hurt patient health, according to new research from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

24 Oct 2019

Study finds high number of hospital return for preexisting or linked infections

About 15% of hospitalized older adults will be readmitted within a month of discharge.

23 Oct 2019

Compression garments can ease lymphedema. Covering costs? Not so easy.

Every morning, Britta Vander Linden dons compression stockings, a cumbersome process she calls "putting on my legs."

23 Oct 2019

More brain pathology and hospitalizations associated with faster rate of cognitive decline

Older people who experienced more hospitalizations and also had more Alzheimer's pathology in their brain experienced the fastest rates of cognitive decline, according to study results published in the October 15 online issue of the Annals of Neurology.

22 Oct 2019

A million-dollar marketing juggernaut pushes 3D mammograms

When Dr. Worta McCaskill-Stevens made an appointment for a mammogram last year, she expected a simple breast cancer screening - not a heavy-handed sales pitch.

22 Oct 2019

1 in 8 pharmacies in the U.S. affected by closures

In a report published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that despite an overall increase in the number of pharmacies in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015, one in eight pharmacies, or 9,654, had closed during this period.

21 Oct 2019

Whistleblower alleges Medicare fraud at iconic Seattle-based health plan

Group Health Cooperative in Seattle, one of the nation's oldest and most respected nonprofit health insurance plans, is accused of bilking Medicare out of millions of dollars in a federal whistleblower case.

18 Oct 2019

Study compares costs, outcomes of surgeries at teaching and non-teaching hospitals

Patients with a high risk of dying after surgery, including those with multiple chronic diseases, benefit from undergoing general or vascular procedures at a major teaching hospital as opposed to a non-teaching hospital, according to a study from researchers at Penn Medicine and the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia.

17 Oct 2019

Medicare News and Research

Obamacare’s star ratings offer a glimmer of insight ― but not for all

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Spooky stuff

New study finds racial/ethnic variation in discharge destination after knee replacement surgery

Study examines link between gift-giving and opioid prescribing by medical specialty

Medicare fraud and abuse associated with patient mortality, hospitalizations

AANA publishes new study on safety outcomes, cost-effectiveness of anesthesia delivery

Moved overseas for school, stayed for insulin

Survey shows positive link between infection prevention certification and ASP comprehensiveness

Study explores distribution of new diabetes cases and specialist density in the U.S.

Study finds heightened risk of adverse financial outcomes prior to Alzheimer's diagnosis

NYU Langone Health launches new molecular assay to identify patients with brain tumors

Older women with DCIS gain no benefit from sentinel lymph node biopsy

Acquisitions by large, for-profit dialysis chains hurt patient health

Study finds high number of hospital return for preexisting or linked infections

Compression garments can ease lymphedema. Covering costs? Not so easy.

More brain pathology and hospitalizations associated with faster rate of cognitive decline

A million-dollar marketing juggernaut pushes 3D mammograms

1 in 8 pharmacies in the U.S. affected by closures

Whistleblower alleges Medicare fraud at iconic Seattle-based health plan

Study compares costs, outcomes of surgeries at teaching and non-teaching hospitals

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