healthcare costs

Computerized patient records are unlikely to cut health care costs and may actually encourage doctors to order expensive tests more often, a study published on Monday concludes. Read More »

A number of hospitals across the country have set out to demonstrate that healthy diets improve patient health and reduce healthcare costs. Those efforts got a boost recently when the Union of Concerned Scientists released an analysis of the benefits of improving patient health through better access to fresher, healthier food. Read More »

Thousands of doctors and other medical professionals have billed Medicare for increasingly complicated and costly treatments over the past decade, adding $11 billion or more to their fees — and signaling a possible rise in medical billing abuse, according to an investigation by the Center for Public Integrity. Read More »

With the cost of some lifesaving cancer drugs exceeding $100,000 a year, more than 100 influential cancer specialists from around the world have taken the unusual step of banding together in hopes of persuading some leading pharmaceutical companies to bring prices down. Read More »

In unprecedented numbers, America’s doctors — those most entrepreneurial and fiercely independent of professionals — are trading in their autonomy for regular work hours and a hospital paycheck. Read More »

The Defense Department wants to develop a dynamic health and wellness assessment application that is accessible online to all service members to encourage behaviors that help them stay healthy, avoid chronic conditions, and result in lowering care costs. Read More »

A percolating problem is beginning to boil over: doctors and nurses really don’t like their new electronic health records systems. And, as EHR implementations increase ahead of government deadlines for incentive dollars, dissatisfaction among clinicians is growing. Read More »