Study details Medicare spending variations

The analysis finds health differences explain as much as 85 percent of cost variations around the country.

Kaiser Health News: Medicare Spending Variations Mostly Due To Health Differences, Study Concludes
The idea that uneven Medicare health care spending around the country is due to wasteful practices and overtreatment-;a concept that influenced the federal health law -- takes another hit in a study published Tuesday. The paper concludes that health differences around the country explain between 75 percent and 85 percent of the cost variations (Rau, 5/28).

Also, another study looks at concerns by patients to have greater control of their care.

Medpage Today: Heart Patients Want Big Say In Care Choices
A majority of patients with acute myocardial infarction said they preferred to actively participate in decision making about their care, a study reported. Of 6,636 patients in the study, more than two-thirds indicated they would welcome shared decision making, but one-quarter of them want to make the decision alone, according to Harlan M. Krumholz, MD, SM, from Yale University School of Medicine, and colleagues. In addition, a majority of patients (60 percent) indicated that the physician and patient should have equal participation, while 15 percent suggested the patient should dominate the decision, Krumholz and colleagues wrote in a research letter published in the May 27 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine (Struck, 5/28).