A tale of three countries: How access to surgeries differs by income across health systems
A recent study looks at how high- and low-income patients access common cancer surgeries in the US, Canada, and Australia. More
Blog
Rather than turning its back on the QALY, pharma should collaborate on efforts to improve it
The quality-adjusted life-year (QALY) attempts to capture the impact of disease. It's a metric worth improving, not discarding. More
Hospitals get 1st CMS warning on price transparency failure
CMS has started issuing its first round of warning letters to hospitals not in compliance with the hospital price disclosure rule, a CMS spokesperson confirmed to Becker's May 5. More
Covid Testing Has Turned Into a Financial Windfall for Hospitals and Other Providers
Because there are no caps on cost, consumers and insurers often get billed hundreds of dollars for the most reliable PCR covid test. Prices are rising and they can’t fight back. More
Measuring what matters: How hospital rankings are evolving
Last year, the Lown Institute, a Brookline, Mass.-based nonpartisan healthcare think tank, broke new ground with the release of the Lown Hospitals Index that includes metrics such as racial inclusivity, pay equity and community benefit spending. The institute is now releasing updated 2021 results for the full index starting with the May 4 announcement of the top hospitals in the U.S. for avoiding overuse of low-value tests and procedures. "What we're trying to show is the hospitals at the top of our list are showing that it can be done. It is quite possible. So, for us the rationale for doing this is to show by example what can be done and then participate in what needs to be a broader movement to have American healthcare to move in that direction. It's only when we're able to do that will we be able to solve the deeper problems in healthcare, including affordability," said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. More
Nurse burnout remains a serious problem, putting patients in danger, experts say
"There was no one we could speak to, and our mental well-being was beginning to deteriorate," nurse Joanna Engman said. More
Mass General Brigham’s plan for surgical centers in suburbs stirs controversy
An ambitious expansion plan by Mass General Brigham for Westborough, Westwood, and Woburn has set off a fight about the future of outpatient health care in Massachusetts. Competitors worry that the already dominant health care provider could become even more powerful. More
Study: Hospitals waste billions on unnecessary tests and procedures
Hundreds of thousands of tests and procedures are unnecessary, according to recent analyses from health care think tank the Lown Institute. Using a Medicare claims database between 2016 and 2018, the institute ranked 3,100 U.S. hospitals based on their likelihood of ordering unnecessary tests or procedures such as coronary stents for stable heart disease. More
Viewpoint: A Path Forward for Alternative Payment
This Viewpoint explores existing payment models and waste elimination incentives and proposes a new approach to addressing waste in health care. More
Variability and Costs of Low-Value Preoperative Testing for Cataract Surgery Within the Veterans Health Administration
This cohort study of Veterans Health Administration records examines the prevalence of low-value preoperative tests for eye cataract operations and associations with patient demographic characteristics, procedure type, and facility size. More
Drug pricing watchdog says there’s ‘insufficient’ evidence that Biogen’s Alzheimer’s medicine would help patients
In a draft report, Boston-based ICER cites conflicting data from two trials. The Cambridge biotech says it “does not accurately reflect the possible holistic value” of the experimental treatment. More
Drug pricing watchdog says there’s ‘insufficient’ evidence that Biogen’s Alzheimer’s medicine would help patients
In a draft report, Boston-based ICER cites conflicting data from two trials. The Cambridge biotech says it “does not accurately reflect the possible holistic value” of the experimental treatment. More
Southern and for-profit hospitals more frequently deliver unnecessary tests and procedures: analysis
Overuse of unnecessary healthcare services was most common among for-profit hospitals, nonteaching hospitals and those located in the southern U.S., according to a new review of Medicare claims conducted by the Lown Institute. The study found more than 1.3 million low-value tests and procedures delivered by 3,351 U.S. hospitals between Jan. 1, 2015, and Dec. 31, 2017—a rate of one such unnecessary service delivered to an older adult every 80 seconds. More
VIDEO: 2021’s Top Hospitals for Avoiding Overuse
In case you missed the avoiding overuse launch event, you can watch the full recording here! Featuring Vikas Saini and Shannon Brownlee along with guest experts Mike Chernew, Rita Redberg, and Mark Smith, as well as hospital leaders Pete Healy and Gary Kaplan. More
Op-ed: FDA’s ‘abundance of caution’ should extend to supplements
Supplements — vitamins, hormones, herbs, enzymes and probiotics — are only lightly regulated, and the existing rules are poorly enforced. The pandemic underlines why this is not a good thing, writes Sarah Green Carmichael in an op-ed. More
Hospitals in South Fare Worst in Avoiding Low-Value Tests, Analysis Finds
More than 1 million tests and procedures that Medicare patients received in hospitals over a three-year period were likely not needed, according to an analysis released today. Most of the top performing hospitals in the Lown Institute Hospital Index are not from large, well-known health systems that appear on the annual rankings of U.S. News and World Report—in fact, only Cleveland Clinic, which ranked 58th on the Lown list, is on the U.S. News honor roll, according to the a statement on findings. More
Report: Worst Hospitals for Unnecessary Procedures
In what was called a first-of-its-kind list, the Lown Institute on Tuesday released the names of the worst 50 and best 50 hospitals ranked by how frequently their patients had any of 12 procedures largely regarded as unnecessary. Lown president Vikas Saini, MD, said for the hospitals with the most overuse, "it appears there is a culture. The evidence that these procedures are not useful hasn't penetrated or is being ignored." Saini warned that overuse isn't just a matter of the hospitals performing more revenue-generating procedures; patients could be harmed. "When you're getting stuff done that's not necessary, you are subjecting yourself to a risk of harm, and even if the harm is very small, even if the risk is small, it's still real," he said, especially if you're the unfortunate person that develops that complication. More
US hospitals overused elective procedures and tests before pandemic, report shows. Experts say focus must return to patient safety.
The Lown Institute, a health care think tank, found more than a million tests and procedures performed in hospitals on Medicare patients from 2016-2018 met established criteria for overuse. “These results are if anything the low end of the estimate,” said Dr. Vikas Saini, president of the Lown Institute. “It speaks to the power of habit, weak penetration of actual science and certainly a lot of prominent financial incentives for hospitals and doctors without any counter-balancing information that patients could use to push back.”
A Primary Care Physician for Every American, Science Panel Urges
It’s time to consider primary care a “common good” akin to public education and shore up the foundation of the pandemic-battered U.S. health system, report says. More
Can Virginia Mason’s quality efforts survive merger?
The merger between Virginia Mason and CHI Franciscan health system in the Seattle area raises questions about maintaining quality and not raising prices. More