The Latest Research, Commentary, And News From Health Affairs
May 9, 2021
Dear John,
Read on for highlights from Health Affairs this week.
Consolidation, Clinical Trials & More
The latest issue of Health Affairs features articles that address market consolidation, the role of private equity financing, price competition for drugs, and more. Read Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil's preview for some highlights. Check out our table of contents to see everything.
Two
new Considering Health Spending articles in this month’s issue found that vertical integration of physicians with hospitals increased use of hospital testing and imaging services.
Gary Young and coauthors examined magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) referrals for three common conditions. They found that "hospital employment [of physicians] was associated with a substantially greater likelihood of patients receiving MRI referrals in general, as well as—more important—inappropriate referrals."
Also in the May issue, Jenny Guadamuz and coauthors investigated whether the availability and geographic accessibility of pharmacies varied by neighborhood racial and ethnic composition in the thirty most-populous cities in the US. They found that there are fewer pharmacies located in predominantly Black and Hispanic/Latino neighborhoods than in majority White or diverse neighborhoods.
Rachel Werner and Norma Coe examined changes in nursing home staffing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although they found that the total number of hours worked by nursing home staff declined during the pandemic, there was a concurrent decline in
the average nursing home census during the same period. When the decline in census was accounted for, nurse staffing hours per resident day remained steady or increased slightly.
In May’s Narrative Matters essay, Krista Lyn Harrison describes how thehospice model fails when patients die more slowly than expected. "Hospice has become care for people dying fast, not for those trying to live well while dying slow," Harrison writes as she recounts her stepfather’s experience in hospice with a neurodegenerative disease.
Understanding Private Equity Investment In Hospitals Listen to Health
Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interview Anaeze Offodile from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center on the role of private equity investments in health care.
Health Affairs is the leading peer-reviewedjournalat the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Published
monthly by Project HOPE, the journal is available in print and online. Late-breaking content is also found through healthaffairs.org, Health Affairs Today, and Health Affairs Sunday Update.
Project HOPE is a global health and humanitarian relief organization that places power in the hands of local health care workers to save lives across the globe. Project HOPE has published Health Affairs since 1981.
