The January issue<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1.toc?blurb> of Health Affairs releases the latest CMS analysis<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/87.abstract?blurb> which shows growth in US health spending in 2011 remained low at 3.9, marking the third consecutive year of relatively slow growth. However, the report also finds several areas in which spending growth accelerated.
This month's issue also explores opportunities and challenges to achieving better health and better care at lower costs. Here are two of the many articles in this issue:
* Primary Care Physician Shortages Could Be Eliminated Through Use Of Teams, Nonphysicians, and Electronic Communication<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/11.abstract?blurb>
* After-Hours Access To Primary Care Practices Linked With Lower Emergency Department Use and Less Unmet Medical Need<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/175.abstract?blurb>
A featured piece by Seth Seabury at the RAND Corporation<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/111.abstract?blurb> and coauthors<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/111.abstract?blurb> found that the average physician spends almost 11 percent of his or her career with an open and unresolved medical claim. The analysis further concluded that among the various distressing factors involved in this type of adjudication, patients and physicians alike may be more troubled by the length of time of the process than the potential damages.
Nurse Practitioner–Staffed Clinic At Virginia Mason Improves Care And Lowers Costs For Women With Benign Breast Conditions, C. Craig Blackmore<http://content.healthaffairs.org/content/32/1/20.abstract?blurb> at the Center for Health Services Research, Virginia Mason Medical Center, in Seattle, Washington, and coauthors
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