Quality of Care--When is "Good," Good Enough?
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Quality of Care--How Good Is Good Enough? Harold C. Sox; Sheldon Greenfield JAMA. 2010;303(23):2403-2404 (doi:10.1001/jama.2010.810 [Extract]:
cost-effective
Cost is the Big Item in the Value Equation of Health Care and Here's Why
This article is posted in:The main tension about healthcare centers around medical need, quality, access and cost-efficiency, i.e., affordability. To increase "value," one must raise quality, improve access and/or lower the cost of care.
The Guiding Principle: Measure to Manage
This article is posted in:The modus operandi in managing care is that 'one cannot manage what one does not measure and the obverse, one cannot measure what one does not manage.' Consider the final equalizer in health care method comparisons—outcomes….who's measuring? Who's managing?
Cost-effectiveness of Total Knee Arthroplasty in the US
This article is posted in:The number of U.S. total knee arthroplasty (TKA) procedures, an effective, established operation, is huge and it is more cost-effective to do TKA in patients with end-stage osteoarthritis than to treat the patient medically, regardless of the hospital TKA volume. Nevertheless, the larger volume hospitals enjoy the better C:E in part because they have lower cost ratios. There were approximately 500,000 TKAs in 2006 For which the direct medical costs were $11 billion
Does A Good Doctor Treat A Patient's Economic Aches and Pains?
This article is posted in:Doctors are relatively uninformed about health care systems, outcomes research or health care economics, specifically the costs of care and cost-benefit. Is that a critical knowledge gap? 58,294 U.S. medical graduates completed the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC) annual, 2003-2007 Medical School Graduation Questionnaire. The data were used to compare medical school curricula that varied in the intensity of teaching about health care systems.
If/When Reform Fails to Reform
This article is posted in:"If Reform Fails", a recent NY Times editorial, states that the status quo is immoral, impractical and unsustainable. What can we expect now that the House approved "Health Overhaul, Sending Landmark Bill to Obama"? No proposition I have seen identifies, in a practical way what does or does not work for patients and those practicing on the front lines of medicine. Blame the patient?
Healthcare Reform in the U.S.
This article is posted in:The United States is the only wealthy, industrialized country that does not ensure that all of its citizens have healthcare coverage. Insuring America's Health: Principles and Recommendations, Institute of Medicine at the National Academies of Science, January 14, 2004, last accessed Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Managed Care's No Panacea
This article is posted in:Our 1994 statement still rings true--"Managed care is not a panacea for two reasons: (1) it lacks a proven method of achieving results, and (2) it lacks a firm foundation of information about customers and service." What does it mean for health care reform? “One Cannot Measure What One Does Not Manage: Managed Care 101 in ”2010 (Part XIII) – Originally published Tuesday, March 17, 2009
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