SMA Informatics 

Heart attack rates in women and men decreased overall but women died more often

Heart attacks pose a serious risk of death to everyone, but recent research suggests that risk might be greater for young to middle-aged women.

A new study found that women died in the hospital after a heart attack less often than they did a decade ago, but they still had a higher risk of death than men.

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The nation's largest health insurer expects to play a much bigger role in the health care overhaul next year, as the federal law shifts from raising giant questions for the sector to offering growth opportunities.

UnitedHealth Group said Thursday that it will participate in as many as 24 of the law's individual health insurance exchanges in 2015, up from only four this year.

These state-based exchanges debuted last fall as a way for customers to buy individual health insurance, many with help from income-based tax credits. They played a key role in helping roughly 8 million people gain coverage for 2014.

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Estimates of Medicaid spending developed from Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) data sources suggest wide variation among states in Medicaid spending per enrollee, overall and for each of four main eligibility groups—children, adults, disabled, and aged.

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Payments to physicians under Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) and managed care for the 26 evaluation and management (E/M) services, such as office visits and emergency care, that GAO reviewed were generally lower than private insurance prior to the temporary increases mandated by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (HCERA). Specifically, in the 40 states where GAO compared Medicaid FFS payments to private insurance, FFS payments were 27 to 65 percent lower than private insurance in 31 states; and in the 23 states where GAO compared managed care payments to private insurance, managed care payments were 31 to 65 percent lower than private insurance in 18 states.

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AHRQ releases results from the 2013 CAHPS Clinician & Group Surveys. Results indicate that scores are generally consistent across the three survey versions and the highest scores are reported for Provider Communication followed by Provider Rating.

Results from the Adult and Child versions of the 12-Month and the Patient-Centered Medical Home (PCMH) survey, and the Adult Visit Survey are now available at www.cahpsdatabase.ahrq.gov/cahpsidb. These results are based on voluntary submission of survey data to the CAHPS Database by health systems, medical practices, and other survey sponsors administering the CAHPS Clinician & Group Surveys. Results can be viewed via an online reporting system and Chartbook. Research data files are also available.

Online Reporting System - Web-based platform for viewing summary-level comparative results of CAHPS surveys allows users to view top box scores, frequency distributions, bar charts, and percentiles for these surveys. Users can also use a Report Builder feature to create custom downloadable reports at www.cahpsdatabase.ahrq.gov/cahpsidb.

2013 Clinician & Group Chartbook - presents highlights of survey results in narrative summaries and bar charts. This document is available as a PDF for easy downloading at www.cahpsdatabase.ahrq.gov.

Research Data Files - Researchers may request access to de-identified research data files by submitting an application. Learn more about research data at www.cahpsdatabase.ahrq.gov/DataResearchers.aspx.

For more information, email CAHPSDatabase@westat.com or call the helpline at (888) 808-7108.

About CAHPS

Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS®) surveys ask consumers about their experiences with health care. The CAHPS program at the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) supports the development and promotion of CAHPS surveys, toolkit materials, and comparative databases, and provides technical assistance to users. Learn more about AHRQ’s CAHPS program at: www.cahps.ahrq.gov.

AHRQ’s CAHPS Database receives data voluntarily submitted by users that have administered either the CAHPS Health Plan Survey or the CAHPS Clinician & Group Survey. The CAHPS Database aggregates the data to facilitate comparisons of CAHPS survey results by users, researchers, and other interested organizations. Learn more about AHRQ’s CAHPS Database at: www.cahps.ahrq.gov/cahps-database/index.html.