Insights on the Homefront

Most Americans take it for granted that an acute-care hospital is available to them if they require surgery or become seriously ill. But this has been the case for only a relatively brief period of our history. Much routine medical care, and even some surgical care, was traditionally delivered in the patient’s home.

The increasing number of Americans living with cancer suggests that enormous resources must now be devoted to fighting the disease. This comes as the patient-centered treatment movement has gathered momentum. As a result, a growing body of literature has emerged to address home-based treatments for cancer.

How savvy Medicare Advantage (MA) planners have stayed ahead of the curve and have found innovative ways to reduce hospital readmissions.

In the wake the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that placed various limits on Medicare Advantage (MA) managed care plans, enrollments have been steadily increasing. Today, one in three Medicare beneficiaries is enrolled in an MA plan. What explains this paradox?

For many people who have been in the hospital for an illness or surgery, the best part of the experience is leaving the hospital. But leaving a hospital is not always simple and straightforward..

Care coordination involves deliberately organizing patient care activities and sharing information among all of the participants concerned with a patient’s care to achieve safer and more effective care. This means that the individual’s needs and preferences are known ahead of time and communicated at the right time and to the right people.

According to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), wasteful spending is pervasive in the US and its magnitude is increasing every year. The sources of healthcare wasteful spending can be classified in at least seven categories.