Posts Tagged “Elder Care”
ShowHide 3rd Party PapersAARP: Valuing the Invaluable: 2011 Update – The Growing Contributions and Costs of Family Caregiving
NIH Consensus Development Program: Preventing Alzheimer’s Disease and Cognitive Decline
Census Bureau: The Next Four Decades The Older Population in the United States: 2010 to 2050
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Coverage of the Young and Spending by the Old
by Kevin Roche on Monday, January 16, 2012
The Employee Benefit Research Institute provides a quick look at two interesting topics. The new reform law requires that employer health plans provide coverage for adult children up to the age of 26. Early evidence suggests that the number of uninsured adults in the 19-25 age group has declined. Older Americans are also found to often make changes in health spending in response to financial distress.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Health Insurance Exchange
Off-Label Use of Atypical AntiPsychotics
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, October 18, 2011
A Journal of the American Medical Association article, based on work sponsored by AHRQ, reviews the off-label use of atypical antipsychotics, which are usually very expensive and have significant side effects. While there are occasional benefits to such use, adverse events are common, particularly in the elderly.
Tags: Drugs, Elder Care, FDA, Health Care Quality
2011 Potpourri XXXX
by Kevin Roche on Friday, October 14, 2011
The leaves fall but not the quality of our Potpourri, this week covering beneficiaries’ use of Medicare Star ratings, quality of care guidelines and older patients, compassionate care, asthma care guidelines and outcomes, infection control in hospitals and informal caregivers in California.
Tags: Consumer Directed Health, Elder Care, evidence based medicine, Health Care Costs, Health Care Quality, Hospital, Medicare, Pay For Performance
Advance Directives and End-of-Life Spending
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, October 12, 2011
End-of-life care is a significant contributor to overall health expenditures. New research in the Journal of the American Medical Association probes the effect of advance directives on end-of-life spending, with a particular focus on geographic variations both in the use of directives and care.
Tags: Elder Care, End-of-Life Care, Health Care Costs, Health Care Quality, Medicare
Review of Care Management Research
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, August 18, 2011
The Agency for Healthcare Research & Quality released a report on the Comparative Effectiveness of Case Management for Adults with Medical Illness and Complex Care Needs. This metareview found limited evidence for positive effects of any care management intervention.
Tags: Care Management, Chronic Disease, Comparative Effectiveness, Elder Care
Savings from Home Health Use
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, July 6, 2011
A study finds that using home health care after a hospital admission for Medicare beneficiaries with certain chronic illnesses reduces Medicare Part A spending and readmissions compared to a beneficiary group that used other post-discharge services.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, HomeCare, Hospital, Medicare
2011 Potpourri XXVI
by Kevin Roche on Friday, July 1, 2011
Fireworks galore for the Fourth of July Potpourri, including dynamite excerpts on the effects of parent caregiving on caregivers’ financial status; health insurance exchanges; physician compensation; provider performance data gathering and use; hospital market concentration; use of HIT in nursing homes and teen use of health websites.
Tags: Consumers, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, Health Insurance, HIT, Hospital, Meaningful Use, Pay For Performance, Physicians, Telemedicine
2011 Potpourri XXIV
by Kevin Roche on Friday, June 17, 2011
The week’s Potpourri continues the tradition of presenting excellent nuggets of health information, including EHR use in the VA system, the effect of making surrogate care decisions, screening for ovarian cancer, gaps in health among socioeconomic groups, cancer care guideline compliance, and ER visits in Massachusetts.
Tags: Care Management, EHRs, Elder Care, End-of-Life Care, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, HIT, Wellness and Prevention
2011 Potpourri XXIII
by Kevin Roche on Friday, June 10, 2011
Another scintillating menu of health care tidbits, including provider reaction to the proposed Accountable Care Organization rule; end-of-life care in the US and Canada; hospital volume and outcomes for difficult surgeries; hospital marketing of robotic surgery; and cutting lab test costs.
Tags: ACO, Elder Care, End-of-Life Care, Health Care Costs, Hospital
2011 Potpourri XXII
by Kevin Roche on Friday, June 3, 2011
Another round of health tidbits, including the association between primary care workforce and Medicare outcomes, comparisons of Type 2 diabetes drugs, effects of limiting DTC drug advertising, health information exchange sustainability, the effect of the Irish workplace smoking ban and barriers to diffusion of cost-effective care.
Tags: Care Management, Drugs, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Health Care Reform, HIT, Medicare, Physicians, Wellness and Prevention, Workplace
Better Care for the Elderly
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, May 18, 2011
A Health Affairs article discusses health care for elderly persons living in retirement communities and how various models might help improve care coordination and reduce spending.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, HomeCare, Medicare
2011 Potpourri XIX
by Kevin Roche on Friday, May 6, 2011
Another edition of the Potpourri focuses on CMS and telemedicine, informal caregiver stress, wellness program results, emergency room visits, happiness and suicide, and sources for consumer health information.
Tags: Consumers, Elder Care, Physicians, Telemedicine, Wellness and Prevention
Hip Replacements
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, April 28, 2011
Hip replacement is one of the most pervasive orthopedic procedures, particularly among older Americans. Research among Medicare beneficiaries reveals trends over 18 years, finding lower mortality, but potential issues on site of discharge and readmissions.
Tags: Care Management, Elder Care, Hospital, Medicare
The Latest Dartmouth Atlas Work
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, April 26, 2011
The latest Dartmouth Atlas report focuses on trends and variation in end-of-life care, finding fewer people are dying in the hospital, more hospice use is occurring, but intensity of care is increasing.
Tags: Care Management, Elder Care
Nursing Home Quality and Malpractice Claims
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Research published in the New England Journal of Medicine examines the relationship between nursing home quality metrics and the number of malpractice claims they have, finding a weak relationship at best.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Quality, Malpractice
2011 Potpourri XIII
by Kevin Roche on Friday, March 25, 2011
Another edition of the Potpourri, featuring results on the Guided Care program, bundled payment experience, academic physician compensation, end-of-life care, hospital prices and costs, and geographic variation in Medicare spending.
Tags: Care Management, Chronic Disease, Disease Management, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Hospital, Physicians
New End-of-life Studies
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, March 17, 2011
Feeling blue, don’t read this post. It is collection of research reports related to death and end-of-life care. Mostly positive trends, not that it helps those who make up the statistics.
Medical Spending in the Last Six Months of Life
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, March 10, 2011
End-of-life care accounts for a very substantial fraction of all health spending and appears to vary geographically, as does much other spending. Research looked at what may determine end-of-life spending and its variation around the country.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Medical Care
End-of-Life Expenditures
by Kevin Roche on Monday, March 7, 2011
A new report looks at the out-of-pocket health spending in the last year of life for Medicare beneficiaries. The spending is not only large but highly variable and undoubtedly puts a significant financial strain on most of these people.
Tags: Consumers, Elder Care, Health Care Costs
Yet More on Geography and Costs
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Yet another study has emerged on the factors responsible for apparent variation in costs of treating Medicare patients, this one focused on the high-cost quartile of beneficiaries and finding that health status accounts for much of the variation.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Medicare
Hospice Care By Ownership Type
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, February 15, 2011
Researchers writing in JAMA looked at whether the ownership type of a hospice appeared to be correlated with profit-maximizing behavior under Medicare’s per diem payment scheme. They found only weak evidence which could have other explanations.
Tags: Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Medicare
2011 Potpourri VII
by Kevin Roche on Friday, February 11, 2011
Another rendition of selections from the health literature, including advance directive issues; guideline problems; physician religious beliefs and end-of-life care; health information exchanges; the results of use of modified global payments with physicians and hospitals; and physician payment reform.
Tags: Care Management, Elder Care, HIT, Medicare, Physicians
2011 Potpourri VI
by Kevin Roche on Friday, February 4, 2011
Our usual end-of-the-week collection of health care tidbits, featuring HIE vendor awards; the point-of-care testing market; what makes medical groups successful; family caregivers and technology; clinical decision software for imaging; health care employee compensation; and communication between primary care and specialist physicians.
Tags: Care Management, Elder Care, HIT, Medical Care, Physicians
Boomers and Health Technology
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, February 2, 2011
The newly aging boomer generation is posited to be more receptive to use of a multiplicity of technologies in health care, with the end goal of being more responsible for their health and health care. A new report explores opportunities which arise as boomers age.
Tags: Consumers, Elder Care, HIT, Telemedicine
Home Care and TeleCommunications
by Kevin Roche on Monday, January 31, 2011
An outstanding Rand report describes the potential for home care technologies, barriers to their use and changes needed to overcome those barriers. The report paints a compelling picture of how greater care at home can benefit patients and the health system.
Tags: Chronic Disease, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, HomeCare, Telemedicine
2011 Potpourri IV
by Kevin Roche on Friday, January 21, 2011
On we go into the New Year, already on our fourth Potpourri, this one rich with information on state Medicaid program issues; what makes for a successful wellness program; what makes for a well-run hospital; pushing back on too much medical care; the value of colonoscopy and walking faster to live longer.
Tags: Elder Care, Hospital, Medicaid, Physicians, Wellness and Prevention
Adult Day Care and Long-Term Care Surveys
by Kevin Roche on Thursday, December 16, 2010
MetLife’s Mature Market Institute does some excellent research in regard to aging the medical care and other needs of the elderly. Two new reports extend that tradition, describing long-term care costs and surveying adult day care services.
Tags: Elder Care
2010 Potpourri XLII
by Kevin Roche on Saturday, November 20, 2010
Thanksgiving approaches and we are thankful for the continuing stream of news to fill our Potpourri, including the effect of malpractice liability on Illinois’ ability to retain physicians; the role of prices in health spending increases; comparative health and death rates in the US and England; employer health insurance costs; CBO review of a plan to reshape to Medicare; and end-of-life decision making.
Tags: Chronic Disease, Consumer Directed Health, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Health Insurance, Malpractice, Medicare, Physicians
Care Management for the Elderly Patient
by Kevin Roche on Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Older Americans have a high rate of chronic disease and those patients are responsible for much of overall health spending. An article in JAMA explores programs designed to manage care better for these patients.
Tags: Care Management, Chronic Disease, Elder Care, Medicare
Nursing Home Resident Hospitalizations
by Kevin Roche on Tuesday, October 26, 2010
There is so much health spending in the United States that it is sometimes hard to isolate the big buckets. Nursing home residents have very high medical costs and many questionable hospitalizations. A KFF report examines reasons why.
Tags: Care Management, Elder Care, Health Care Costs, Physicians
2010 Potpourri XXIX
by Kevin Roche on Saturday, August 14, 2010
Another Saturday, another Potpourri, featuring the acquisition of a hospital medical necessity company, Americans’ online health usage, analysis of prescriptions, California workers’ compensation, home monitoring of elderly parents, remote psychiatric evaluations and telemedicine to treat depression.
Tags: Care Management, Drugs, Elder Care, HIT, HomeCare, Medicare, Monitoring, Telemedicine, Workers Compensation
End-of-Life Care and Patients’ Preferences
by Kevin Roche on Monday, July 12, 2010
Medical care provided near the end of a patient’s life accounts for a significant portion of total national health spending and is often inconsistent with patient wishes. New research evaluates the effects of a more detailed set of physician advance orders for frail and elderly persons.
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Four Part Series on Aging: (1) Seniors Finding Long-Term Care Close To Home; (2) High-Tech Aging: Tracking Seniors’ Every Move; (3) Wired Homes Keep Tabs On Aging Parents; (4) Building Homes To Age In