While research scientists and clinicians focus their war on cancer, this has become a war for cancer dollars. Â
Health Policy Commission
Posted inHealth Care
House votes to strengthen control of health system expansions
FIRING A SHOT across the bow of the state’s leading hospital networks, the House voted nearly unanimously on Wednesday to give a state health commission more authority to scrutinize expansion plans – and to give community hospitals what amounts to veto power over efforts by large hospital systems to encroach on their service area. The bill was passed as […]
Posted inHealth Care
Amid pandemic, health care visits still haven’t reboundedÂ
THE NUMBER OF people seeking health care in Massachusetts dropped dramatically when the coronavirus pandemic hit – and eight months later, it still hasn’t totally rebounded, according to new data from the Health Policy Commission.  The data show that as of the end of September, emergency department visits in Massachusetts remained 20 percent below normal and inpatient hospital […]
Posted inHealth Care
Mass. residents overburdened by health costs
EVEN AS OVERALL statewide spending on health care has remained just within the strictures of the state’s benchmark of 3.1 percent annual growth, for many families the costs have surged beyond other expenses, gobbling up much of their recent salary increases. That was one big takeaway from the opening of a blockbuster two-day conference about […]
Posted inThe Download
CHIA good source of data about Mass. health care
The Center for Health Information and Analysis produces reams of data for both Massachusetts policymakers and the public, providing a window into state health care expenditures and offering tools to compare prices between different providers. Ray Campbell, the executive director of CHIA, walked through some of the available online data tools during a recent conversation […]
Posted inOpinion
Mass. has hospital readmissions problem
THERE IS A great deal to celebrate in Massachusetts following the Health Policy Commission’s recent Cost Trends Hearing. The Commonwealth’s healthcare spending growth was well below the national average in 2017 – the lowest since the agency’s inception to help curb the total cost of care in the state. While it’s important to recognize these […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nurse staffing study left union in the dark
THE CONTENTIOUS BALLOT QUESTION campaign over nurse staffing levels may be over, but bitter feelings remain over a study that played a pivotal role in the high-profile debate. In early October, the state Health Policy Commission released an analysis estimating the potential impacts of Question 1, which would have mandated minimum nurse staffing levels in […]
Posted inHealth Care
Nurse staffing measure soundly defeated
TOO MUCH DOUBT raised about its impact and too much division even among those who were supposed to be its bedrock backers. That double whammy proved deadly for the campaign to mandate minimum nurse staffing levels in Massachusetts as voters soundly defeated Question 1 on Tuesday. Based on incomplete returns, the ballot measure was being […]
Posted inHealth Care
Why we support Question 1
IF YOU BELIEVE in climate change, then voting yes on Question 1, which addresses patient care, patient safety, and case overload for hospital nurses, should be obvious. The issues are alike in two key ways. First, just as there’s a vast body of knowledge supporting strict limits on carbon production, there’s an overwhelming amount of […]
Posted inHealth Care
Clashing views on nurse staffing question
WOULD MANDATED NURSE staffing ratios improve patient outcomes in Massachusetts? And are there even enough nurses to fill new slots that such a requirement would create? It’s little wonder that voters are having a hard time sorting out these issues: A group of nursing experts differed sharply on the questions during a panel discussion convened […]