Weekly Roundup: Health care news and notes

January 29, 2015 · NCQA

Every Friday NCQA gives a rundown of some of the health care news stories from the past week. Here are some of our picks for this week:

• Families are more receptive to behavioral health treatment when it is incorporated in a Pediatrician’s office. [Wall Street Journal]
• Patients want more, and more invasive, care but this can lead to harm. [New York Times]
• Medicare pays doctors to coordinate seniors’ chronic care. [Associated Press]
• Innovative digital tools are tilting health care control from doctors to patients. [Wall Street Journal]
• ACHE healthcare executive survey outlines ‘challenging times.’ [Modern Healthcare]
• Workers continue to be squeezed by rising health insurance costs, eroding benefits, stagnant wages. [LA Times]
• New antibiotic stirs hope for the fight against resistant bacteria. [New York Times]
• When convenience is demanded, patients pick Walmart and CVS over doctors’ offices. [Huffington Post]
• In the United States, the uninsured rate among adults sinks to 12.9%, down from 13.4% in the third quarter of 2014. [Gallup]
• According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 311,000 new jobs in health care in 2014, a 2.1% increase, up from 1.7% in the prior five years. [Bureau of Labor Statistics]
• Consumer out-of-pocket costs continue rising faster than median household income. [Commonwealth Fund]
• A new study warns that older diabetics face overtreatment risks. [Modern Healthcare]
• Medicaid reimbursement to primary care providers was associated with improved appointment availability for Medicaid enrollees. [New England Journal of Medicine]
• A New York startup makes it easier for employers to determine if employees qualify for Medicaid. [Kaiser Health News]
• Treating chronic illness with cough syrup: life in the coverage gap. [Washington Post]
• One dental practice in Alabama shows how the poorest kids can receive the best quality care. [Slate]
• The devastating impact of vaccine deniers, in one measles chart. [Washington Post]
• Value-based care is not likely to end payer/provider financial spats. [Modern Healthcare]
• Assistance from public and private entities can help smooth a practice’s transition into a medical home. [AAFP]
• Department of Health & Human Services sets goals for value-based payments: 30% of Medicare by 2016, and 50% by 2018. [HHS]
• Online services help patients avoid the hassles of emergency room waits and scheduling doctor appointments.  [Associated Press]
• Important concepts like number needed to treat (N.N.T.) are making their way into public discussion of overtreatment. [New York Times]
• In a recent study from the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, electronic health records were found to facilitate communication within primary care teams. [JAMIA]