No Evidence Found for Health Care Integration Improving Value of Health Care
By Elana Gotkine HealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, Jan. 9, 2025 -- Evidence is lacking to support integration for improving the value of health care, according to a review published online Dec. 5 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.
Bhagwan Satiani M.D., from The Ohio State University in Columbus, and colleagues conducted a systematic literature review for articles published from 1990 to 2024 on integration to examine whether its reputation for enhancing the value of health care by reducing price and cost/spending and improving quality is justified. The primary inclusion criteria were horizontal integration (HI; joining two or more hospitals) or vertical integration (VI; merging of physicians and hospitals) and reporting at least one measure of value.
The researchers found that neither HI nor VI resulted in consistent and significant improvements in price, cost/spending, or quality of health care delivery. A total of 37 articles met the inclusion criteria; mixed results were seen for any form of integration. Price increases were reported in 93 percent of 14 studies about price; 81 percent of 16 studies about cost/spending showed increases or no change; and reduction or no change from integration was seen in 77 percent of 26 studies about quality.
"The pursuit of true quality improvement and cost reduction is the future of the U.S. health care system but cannot be achieved through mergers alone without the infrastructure, methodology and discipline to achieve this state of value," the authors write.
Disclaimer: Statistical data in medical articles provide general trends and do not pertain to individuals. Individual factors can vary greatly. Always seek personalized medical advice for individual healthcare decisions.
© 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Posted January 2025
Read this next
Risk for Death, MACE Increased for Patients With Adult-Onset Type 1 Diabetes
FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- Adult-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) is associated with an increased risk for death and major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), according to a study...
Audiologist-Fitted Hearing Aids Outperform Over-the-Counter Ones
FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- Over-the-counter (OTC) hearing aids (HAs), in which audiologists provide limited services, are effective, but do not achieve the same outcomes as HAs...
Medicaid Unwinding Linked to Disruption of Chronic Medication Therapy in Youth
FRIDAY, May 16, 2025 -- In young patients, especially young adults, Medicaid unwinding associated with the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted chronic medication therapy, according to a...
More news resources
- FDA Medwatch Drug Alerts
- Daily MedNews
- News for Health Professionals
- New Drug Approvals
- New Drug Applications
- Drug Shortages
- Clinical Trial Results
- Generic Drug Approvals
Subscribe to our newsletter
Whatever your topic of interest, subscribe to our newsletters to get the best of Drugs.com in your inbox.