Auto casualty claimants are avoiding hospital emergency rooms during the COVID-19 pandemic but are generating increased hospital charges anyway, according to a new report by Mitchell, a San Diego-based claims administrator. “Anecdotally, we have heard that some people have been …
Patients with common conditions such as back pain, headaches and upper respiratory infections are more likely to receive tests and services of uncertain or little diagnostic or therapeutic benefit— so-called low-value care —when they seek treatment in primary care clinics …
Surgery patients often go home from the hospital with a prescription for painkillers to take as they recover. But a new study suggests that doctors should also focus on patients who were taking such medicines before their operations. People who …
If you have private health insurance, the good news is you may be helping your employer keep its health care spending down. The bad news is it’s coming out of your pocket. The amount that people with private insurance still …
Kansas City, Missouri, and Indianapolis residents with private health plans face some of the widest disparities in U.S. hospital costs, often being charged twice as much as nearby facilities, a study found. The highest-priced hospitals in 13 cities studied are …
The Obama administration revealed what over 3,000 hospitals charge for common medical procedures in an early effort to challenge healthcare costs by showing consumers how prices for the same service can vary by tens of thousands of dollars. The most …
A proposed statewide average 6.1 percent increase in Florida’s workers’ compensation rates could spur the first major legislative changes in the state’s system since 2003. The likely targets of reforms include physician-repackaged drugs and hospital costs, which the industry says …
Orthopedic surgeons who own one of the growing number of ambulatory surgical centers (ASC) are doing a lot more surgery than non-owners surgeons, new workers’ compensation research shows. There is plenty of financial incentive for this — surgeon-owners not only …
A program to pay hospitals bonuses for hitting key performance measures, or dock them if they miss, failed to improve the health outcomes of patients, according to a large, long-term study. The study could lead to a re-examination of financial …
Hospitalization for underage drinking is common in the United States, and it comes with a price tag — the estimated total cost for these hospitalizations is about $755 million per year. A Mayo Clinic study also found geographic and demographic …
