Can ACOs Create a High Performing Healthcare System in America?
The idea of the “Accountable Care Organization” (ACO) appears to have taken hold well in advance of a clear understanding of what these organizations might be or how they will fit into the overall health care system. At Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, we’ve been using the term “Organized Systems of Care” (OSC) since 2005, when we began transforming …
Read more >The Hidden Story Behind the Development of Evidence Based Guidelines or, Why It is So Hard to Reduce Health Care Spending Trends
Almost a year ago now, new guidelines on mammography screening were released by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). The new guidelines updated 2002 recommendations, and based on recent research recommended against routine screening of women ages 40-49. Instead of routine screening, the USPSTF concluded that the decision about screening women 40-49 should be left up to individual women and …
Read more >CHRT Report Shows Patterns of Health Practice Vary Across Michigan
A report released today by the Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) on the use of health care services in Michigan shows a high degree of variation in the use of certain tests and procedures—including back surgery, Cesarean section, hysterectomy, and angioplasty—among different regions throughout the state. The “Thumb”/Saginaw area had among the highest use rates for all procedures …
Read more >Michigan Radio: Report finds geographic differences in health care practices
Report on CHRT’s September 2010 “CHRTBook: Health Care Variation in Michigan.”
Read more >Detroit Free Press: Docs’ practices are questioned: Test, treatment frequency raises concerns
Report on CHRT’s September 2010 “CHRTBook: Health Care Variation in Michigan.” Must pay fee to view full story.
Read more >Michigan Business Review: Report shows how medical care varies across the state
Report on CHRT’s September 2010 “CHRTBook: Health Care Variation in Michigan.”
Read more >A Michigan Look at Variation in Medical Care: Where you live often determines what you get
This week our Center is releasing a report on geographic variation in health care use in Michigan. Geographic variation in the use of health care services has been well described in the literature for more than 20 years now. Jack Wennberg pioneered this kind of systematic analysis at Dartmouth and has been reporting this data on an ongoing basis looking …
Read more >Crain's Detroit Business: Rates of unnecessary hospitalization highest in Detroit, Dearborn – study
Report on CHRT’s September 2010 “CHRTBook: Health Care Variation in Michigan.” (Free registration required)
Read more >Health Care Reform – The Six Month Mark
September 23, 2010 may well prove to be a particularly important day in the health care reform journey. On that day, six months after the Affordable Care Act was signed into law, several key provisions went into effect that were designed to help people see some immediate benefits in advance of the full blown implementation of the law starting in …
Read more >National Health Care Reforms Are Already Beginning
September 23, 2010 marks six months since our new national health care reform law, also known as the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), became effective. It remains a controversial undertaking for some, yet a positive step for others. The law’s implementation is a long and complex journey. Much of the spotlight has been on PPACA reforms that begin …
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