Health affairs
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In the past two years, the United States has made a historic investment in biomedical research. But innovative medicines often stall in the pipeline from microscope to market. To deliver the next generation of cures and treatments to help Americans live longer, healthier, and more comfortable lives, strong, strategic partnerships both within government and among government, academe, industry, and nonprofits are needed at every stage of drug development. In this article I describe actual and potential efforts on the part of the US government--including the Biomarkers Consortium and National Institutes of Health Therapeutics for Rare and Neglected Diseases program--to work with other stakeholders to advance biomedical research and development.
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The Affordable Care Act created accountable care organizations (ACOs), which will be a new part of Medicare as of January 2012, together with a "shared savings program" that will modify how these organizations will be paid to care for patients. Accountable care organizations have the potential to lower costs, improve the quality of care, facilitate delivery system reform, and promote innovation in health care. ⋯ Drawing on experience from some ACO pilot programs and the Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage program, we argue that regulations governing accountable care organizations should be flexible, encouraging of diversity and innovation and allowing for changes over time based on lessons learned. We recommend using regulations as a general framework, while relying on notices and other guidance below the regulatory level to spell out specific requirements.
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Researchers have routinely found that improved medication adherence--getting people to take medicine prescribed for them--is associated with greatly reduced total health care use and costs. But previous studies do not provide strong evidence of a causal link. ⋯ Our results indicate that although improved medication adherence by people with four chronic vascular diseases increased pharmacy costs, it also produced substantial medical savings as a result of reductions in hospitalization and emergency department use. Our findings indicate that programs to improve medication adherence are worth consideration by insurers, government payers, and patients, as long as intervention costs do not exceed the estimated health care cost savings.
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A major issue for the US health care system will be accommodating the needs of the estimated thirty-two million Americans who will gain insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act by 2019. For hospitals, a traditional response to this increased demand might be to add resources, such as more staff and beds. ⋯ We argue that once managed efficiently, US hospitals, on average, could achieve at least an 80-90 percent bed occupancy rate--at least 15 percent higher than the current level--without adding beds at capital costs of approximately $1 million per bed. This article outlines a plan for hospitals to accommodate more patients without increasing beds or staff, and for policy makers to require hospitals to make these changes or provide incentives for them to do so.
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When a physician who isn't a radiologist holds an ownership interest in an advanced imaging machine and refers patients for diagnostic procedures on that machine, this act of self-referral presents a conflict of interest. Numerous studies demonstrate greater use of high-tech imaging when physicians can financially benefit from such referrals. ⋯ However, the rewards for imaging self-referral remain strong. Policy makers continue to search for the right mechanisms for containing the practice and for assuring that Medicare beneficiaries receive only medically necessary imaging studies, regardless of who owns or operates the equipment.