Research Library

The results of this study suggest that Medicare Data on Provider Practice and Specialty, which costs less to obtain than from a for-profit data source, can be used to reliably track the cost and quality effects of vertical integration between hospitals and physicians.

Consolidated dialysis markets have coincided with both positive and negative trends in health care costs and outcomes. If the underlying mechanisms that contributed to past consolidation persist, dialysis markets may remain highly concentrated over the long term.

In this study, the authors investigate where U.S. patients with limited health insurance coverage receive maintenance dialysis. Journal of the American Society of Nephrology: http://bit.ly/2Q15Jpt

The authors investigate the relationship between the number of freestanding emergency departments entering a local market and overall spending on emergency care. Academic Emergency Medicine: http://bit.ly/2pGwYMw

The authors assess U.S. health care system and offer a plan for achieving universal health care. The Lancet: http://bit.ly/2lSaqX6

When physicians integrate with hospitals, the cost of health care rises even though there’s no evidence patients get better treatment, the authors write. Journal of General Internal Medicine: https://bit.ly/2lxd4RY

By Kevin F. Erickson, Bo Zhao, Jingbo Niu, Wolfgang C. Winkelmayer, Jay Bhattacharya, Glenn M. Chertow and Vivian Ho The acquisition of independently owned dialysis facilities by facility chains lead to slower decreases in mortality and hospitalization rates, write the authors. JAMA Network Open: https://bit.ly/2WPYGSD

Freestanding emergency departments in Texas’ largest cities have not alleviated emergency room congestion or improved patient wait times in nearby hospitals, but they can reduce wait times in smaller communities, conclude the authors of this study.

New research finds that health care consolidation and the integration of hospital and doctor services not only fail to improve quality but also reduce patient satisfaction.

By Morgan N. Fredell, Hagop M. Kantarjian, Ya-Chen Shih, Vivian Ho and Binata Mukherjee Current U.S. health care spending includes many areas of wasted expenditures. In this study, published in Cancer, the authors explore plans to optimize U.S. health care to provide greater benefits to patients: https://bit.ly/2TmeoDg