Archive for the ‘Health Care’ Category

The current edition of the Journal of General Internal Medicine reports that health care providers who use electronic prescriptions are seven times less likely to make errors, compared to those who write prescriptions by hand. Electronic prescriptions are written on computers which contain databases of information on drugs which assist physicians in selecting proper drug dosages, avoid drug interactions, and checking drug allergies. The majority of errors were unlikely to cause serious harm to patients as they were often picked up by pharmacists – these include incomplete directions and omitting the quantity of drug to dispense. A small number of errors were more serious, such as prescribing incorrected dosages of drugs. However, the advantages of e-precribing go well beyond reducing the risk of patient harm. Reduction in errors can dramatically improve health care delivery and reduce health care costs. [via iHealth Bulletin]

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For the first time ever all US counties have been scored and ranked in terms of the overall health of their residents and compiled in the 2010 County Health Rankings. The data will allow health officials to compare the statistics of their county with demographically similar counties. This effort is an attempt to bring comprehensive health data to the local level in order to stimulate action towards improved health. Anyone now can go online to see how their country ranks within their state in regards to a variety of health outcome measures and health factors organized into the broad categories of mortality and morbidity, health behaviors, health care access, socioeconomic factors, and environmental factors. To see where your county ranks, visit www.countyhealthrankings.org.

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A survey recently released by the American Psychiatric Association has found that American workers are hesitant about seeking mental health care for fear of confidentiality issues and possibly losing status at work. Among the 1,129 people surveyed 76% believed their work status would be damaged by seeking treatment for drug addiction, 73% for alcoholism, and 62% for depression, compared with 55% who thought seeking care for diabetes would affect their work status and 54% for heart disease. In total only about 40% of respondents thought their employers were supportive of employees seeking general and mental health care, which sounds counterproductive, especially since research (and logic) shows that people who receive proper health care are healthier and more productive. [HealthDay/Businessweek]

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In an effort to curb healthcare spending, some insurance companies have tried to increase copays for outpatient visits in an effort to decrease the overall rate of visits to the doctor’s office. However, a new study from Brown University published in the Jan. 28 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine is showing that this strategy has some unintended consequences. After looking at some Medicare managed care plans that implemented such copay hikes between 2001 to 2006, the researchers noted an increase in hospital usage. Although these plans had 19.8 fewer annual outpatient visits per enrollee, they consequently had 2.2 additional hospital admissions and 13.4 more inpatient days per 100 enrollees. And as we all know being hospitalized is PRICEY. The authors estimate that by increasing outpatient copays in the short term Medicare plans might save $7,150 per 100 enrollees, but inpatient spending would swell by $24,000 per 100 enrollees in the year after the co-payment increase, thus not really saving any money at all. [via Medline Plus]

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A new UCLA study shows that patients who choose to use mail-order pharmacies demonstrated higher rates of adherence to their prescribed medications than those who used traditional pharmacies. Nearly 85% of mail-order pharmacy patrons took their medications as prescribed by their doctor, compared to 77% of traditional pharmacy patrons. As well, more people who used mail-order pharmacies chose to do so because of financial incentives (mail-order pharmacies are often able to offer very competitive prices, compared to traditional pharmacies). The researchers studied people with chronic diseases – diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure – which is important since management often requires lifelong pharmacotherapy. “Our findings indicate that mail-order pharmacies streamline the medication acquisition process, which is associated with better medication adherence,” said lead researcher, Dr. O. Kenrik Duru. [via Yahoo! News]

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Senator Vince Illuzzi (R) of Vermont has sponsored a bill that brings back the debate of fetal personhood. The bill was proposed after Patricia Blair, a Vermont citizen, was involved in a motor vehicle accident which took the lives of her unborn, 6-month-old twins. Current Vermont law does not recognize a fetus, even a viable one, killed in an accident as a victim, nor are there additional penalties for killing a fetus. The majority of states have some form of fetal homicide law which recognizes the killing of a fetus as a criminal act punishable to varying degrees under the law. What they may not have are laws that formally recognize fetal personhood, which has implications in the abortion debate. There are current 16 states without a fetal homicide law – Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Kentucky, Maine, Maryland, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Texas, Vermont, West Virginia, Wyoming. [via WPTZ]

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Using surface disinfectants may contribute to bacterial antibiotic resistance, according to new research in January’s issue of Microbiology. We already know that the use of consumer-grade antimicrobial hand soaps contribute to the rise of antibiotic resistance. Similarly, the study demonstrated that when non-lethal amounts of disinfectant were added to bacteria in culture, the adapted bacteria were more likely to survive compared to the non-adapted bacteria. “In principle this means that residue from incorrectly diluted disinfectants left on hospital surfaces could promote the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria,” said Dr. Gerard Fleming who led the study. Bacteria that can resist both surface disinfectants and antibiotics could pose a very serious health concern to not only hospitalized patients, but the general public as well. [via Science Daily]

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Health experts are looking to establish new organ transplantation guidelines after two U.S. transplant recipients developed brain infections from their new organs. The University of Mississippi Medical Center recently revealed that one child donor had a rare, often fatal infection that was not diagnosed until after organ transplantation had occurred. “This is a difficult topic, because organs are really scarce and patients who need a transplant are typically quite ill and need a transplant quickly, and sometimes it’s hard to do all the testing that one could possibly think of for all the infections out there,” said Dr. Eileen Farnon, an epidemiologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to the United Network for Organ Sharing, which coordinates U.S. organ transplantations, in 1% of cases organ donors can transmit diseases, including West Nile virus, rabies, HIV, tuberculosis and even cancer. [HealthDay via Businessweek]

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This week the British Medical Journal is warning physicians regarding high blood pressure (hypertension) treatment in people over 80 years of age. Despite limited evidence about treatment of hypertension in this age group, UK and US guidelines continue to recommend applying the same target blood pressures to people over 80 as to any other age group (the current target blood pressure for uncomplicated hypertension is 140/90). However, based on some new reviews of up-to-date data, there is evidence that mortality may likely be decreased by being more conservative with the number of drugs and the dosages of medications used in this group, in addition to allowing a higher target systolic blood pressure of 150. Trials are now needed to compare this conservative approach with the more aggressive treatment strategies currently in use. [via Medical News Today]

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The big news in U.S. health care came early Monday morning (1 am to be exact) as a 60-Senator majority  agreed upon their plan for health care reform. The Senate bill would make health insurance mandatory for almost all citizens of the union, covering nearly 30 million currently uninsured Americans. But, if there is any indication as to whether this most recent bill favors the American individual or the private, for-profit insurance companies all one needs to do is to look towards the ticker. Shares of major U.S. health insurance companies rose Monday, including Aetna, Cigna, Humana, United Health and Wellpoint – all hitting 52-week highs. According to Businessweek, “Investors have been worried for months that a public option would provide unfair competition to private insurers in part because it would receive government financial backing and could set reimbursement at artificially low levels.” But, worry no more since the lobbying efforts of these companies continue to pay off as lawmakers continue to pass bills that put our money into the pockets of insurers rather than spending the majority of it on caring for our health. [via Businessweek]

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