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What We're Reading: Public Housing Smoking Ban
What we're reading, November 12, 2015: nationwide ban on smoking in public houses could have a huge economic impact; CMS barrier to sharing patient records on drug and alcohol abuse; an urgent care—ED hybrid model could save unnecessary costs.
Would Public Housing Smoking Ban Improve Population Health?
The Department of Housing and Urban Development has proposed a ban on smoking in public housing homes as well as on common property in these facilities, nationwide. While tenants are already objecting, there could be broader health implications of the rule. A CDC study estimates that such a ruling throughout the nation could save $153 million, $94 million being healthcare savings.
Read more in The New York Times.
CMS Policy on Patient Privacy Is Creating Havoc
New rules from CMS eliminate hospital and physician records on drug or alcohol abuse. Analyzing morbidity and mortality trends is impossible in the absence of this data, especially in some states in New England that have been marred by the heroin epidemic.
Read more in The Incidental Economist.
Urgent/Emergency Care Hybrid Model to Test Health Saving
Centura Health, a healthcare network in Colorado, has developed a new hybrid model aimed to reduce healthcare costs. Four centers within Colorado will provide emergency as well as urgent care services under the same roof, but billing will be based on the actual services rendered. For patients needing services for non-life threatening conditions, urgent care physicians—whose services cost less than emergency care—will be in charge.
Read more in Healthcare Finance.
Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
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Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
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