Newsroom
Read about our latest research, initiatives, announcements, and other news.
Health Care Spending Growth and Its Share of Economy Exhibit Remarkable Stability
March 26, 2018 | Press Release
Altarum's latest Health Sector Economic Indicators provide a second look at spending for the entire 2017 calendar year and suggest that national health spending grew by 4.6% from its 2016 level.
Through a Glass Darkly: The Community-Based Care Transitions Program Evaluation
February 22, 2018 | Perspective
CMS just released an extensive evaluation of the Community-based Care Transitions Program. Unfortunately, the primary metrics used to measure performance—re-hospitalization/discharge rates—are not always good for patients. We should also include how communities and their social support organizations can improve access to adequate safe housing, nutritious food, reliable personal care, and other key services.
Economic Toll of Opioid Crisis in U.S. Exceeded $1 Trillion Since 2001
February 13, 2018 | Press Release
The cost of the country’s opioid crisis is estimated to have exceeded $1 trillion from 2001 to 2017, and is projected to cost an additional $500 billion by 2020, according to analysis released today by Altarum, a nonprofit health research and consulting institute.
2017 National Health Spending Growth Estimated at 4.7 Percent
February 13, 2018 | Press Release
National health spending rose 4.7 percent in 2017, slightly above GDP, but keeping its share of GDP at 18 percent, according to Altarum’s latest Health Sector Economic Indicators Briefs.
Altarum Introduces MIPScast™: A Scoring Tool that Helps Clinicians Achieve the Highest Possible Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) Scores
January 23, 2018 | Press Release
Altarum announces MIPScast™, a user-friendly, interactive web-based tool designed to help clinicians predict and improve their Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) scores in order to comply with the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA).
National Health Spending Holds Steady at 18% of GDP
January 12, 2018 | Press Release
U.S. health sector spending continues to grow at a more sustainable rate, driven in part by a slowdown in hiring, hospital spending, and price growth in hospitals, physician and clinical services, and prescription drugs, according to Altarum’s latest Health Sector Economic Indicators briefs.
We Can't Let Infant Mortality Disparities Continue
January 05, 2018 | Perspective
The rate at which children die in the first year of life—a basic measure of population health—has declined in the U.S. over the past decade, but remains higher than peer nations, and varies dramatically for populations across the country.
Health Care Spending Growth Appears to Stabilize in 2016, 2017
December 15, 2017 | Press Release
New data released by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), which show slower growth in 2016, combined with other slow-growth trends in 2017, suggest overall national health spending is stabilizing, according to Altarum’s monthly Health Sector Economic Indicators briefs.