Physical Medicine And Rehabilitation

Source: Healthleaders, Inc., Special Data Request, March 2009. (Kaiser Family Foundation)

Excerpt: "In 'Imagining 16% to 12%: A vision for cost efficiency, improving health care quality, and covering the uninsured,' [Milliman sets] forth 'actuarial insights to help health care reformers develop better proposals' while reducing health care's share of the gross domestic product (GDP) from the current 16% to 12%. The Milliman team's strategies support those of the Obama Administration to reduce costly waste in health care by relying more on evidence-based medicine, using comparative effectiveness evaluations of new and existing treatments to identify those that are the most cost effective, setting quality standards and measures, making providers accountable for outcomes, encouraging informed patient choice, and promoting electronic medical records, among other steps." (Wolters Kluwer)

8 pages. Excerpt: "Conclusions: Our results suggest that the programs did not reduce medical cost in their first year, despite a beneficial effect on hospital admissions. If we had been able to include program fees, it is likely that the overall cost would have increased significantly. Although this study had important limitations, the results suggest that a belief that these programs will save money may be too optimistic and better evaluation is needed." (The American Journal of Managed Care)

Ashton Kutcher is the Twitter king. The actor triumphed over CNN in their much ballyhooed race to be the first to reach a million followers on the microblogging Web site.

A new National Sleep Foundation study finds 1/3 of Americans are losing sleep over the economy and financial concerns.