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Health care jobs helped lift the country out of the Great Recession: Thirty-five percent of U.S. job growth has come from health care since late 2007. But there’s a problem: “The goal of increasing jobs in health care is incompatible with the goal of keeping health care affordable,” says Harvard economist Katherine Baicker. “We should be aiming for a health care system that operates more efficiently and effectively.” Because the country has grown increasingly dependent on the sector to power the economy, “it will be a tough habit to break,” warns
Kaiser Health News. (
Kaiser Health News)
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Medicaid often provides enrollees with insurance that’s as good--sometimes better--than private coverage, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. Based on survey results, 91 percent of Medicare enrollees have a regular source to get the care they need, compared to 93 percent of privately insured people with continuous coverage and 77 percent of people uninsured for at least part of the year. Medicaid enrollees are also happy with their care--57 percent rated it as very good or excellent, compared with 52 percent of the privately insured and 40 percent of the uninsured. (
Commonwealth Fund)
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A divided U.S. appeals court upheld a lower court’s earlier decision to block Anthem’s proposed $54 billion takeover of Cigna. U.S. Circuit Judge Judith Rogers wrote Anthem failed “to show the kind of extraordinary efficiencies necessary to offset the conceded anticompetitive effect of the merger in the fourteen Anthem states: the loss of Cigna, an innovative competitor in a highly concentrated market.” The insurers can ask the court to reconsider the decision, or they can appeal to the Supreme Court. (
MedCity News)
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Innovation & Transformation
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Physicians in the Michigan Surgical Home and Optimizing Program believe a home-based pre-operative program to improve physical conditioning of patients will one day be a standard of care in U. S. hospitals. There’s evidence to support the approach, but so far, adoption has been slow. One of its champions--Michael Englesbe, MD, a Michigan Medicine transplant surgeon--tells HealthLeaders Media why: It will require surgeons to work out “a lot of complex finances and politics between the various parties involved.” He shares his insights on the “Pre-hab” program. (HealthLeaders Media)
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Telehealth is not immune to bad internet behavior. As mobile apps such as MDLIVE and Doctor on Demand become more common, so does abuse. What’s trending? Male patients flashing doctors. “There was a period where it was happening to some of our doctors once a week,” recalls Bob Kocher, an investor in Doctor on Demand. This behavior may offer a foreshadowing of what lies ahead as more encounters move online, CNBC reports. (CNBC)
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When those battling an addiction to opioids need pain management, what medications do you give them? And, because anesthesia cocktails can contain opioids, what do you do if they need surgery? Stuart Gitlow, MD, past president of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, says surgeons and anesthesiologists should consult addiction specialists before operating on patients with opioid addictions, just as they would consult an endocrinologist for a patient with diabetes. (
NPR)
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A “superbug” fungus--Candida auris, a harmful yeast--is raising concerns at U.S. hospitals. The earliest of 66 U.S. cases appeared in 2013, but most were reported in the last year. Most vulnerable are fragile hospital patients--particularly newborns and the elderly. It tends to be diagnosed in patients after they’ve been in hospitals for several weeks. The fungus can infect wounds, ears and the bloodstream. CDC is concerned for three reasons: It is often multidrug-resistant; it is difficult to identify with standard laboratory methods and can be misidentified; and it has caused outbreaks in health care settings. (ABC News; CDC)
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It's pollen season. Parents beware: A recent poll of 1,066 adults with children ages 6-12 found many were potentially harming the children with allergy meds. Among the issues: administering incorrect doses and using adult versions instead of child versions. (
Live Science;
poll)
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CMS data repository: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has developed a centralized repository for public health, clinical data and specialized registry electronic reporting options to help eligible hospitals and professionals comply with Meaningful Use requirements. (
Healthcare IT News)
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Scientists have created an artificial womb they hope will one day save babies born extremely prematurely. It is essentially a clear plastic bag filled with synthetic amniotic fluid. A machine outside the bag is attached to the umbilical cord to provides nutrition and oxygen while removing carbon dioxide. Bioethicists have raised several concerns, however. (
NPR;
Nature)
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MarketVoices...quotes worth reading
“It's the Internet.”--Jay Parkinson, CEO of Sherpaa, on why men are using telemedicine apps to flash their genitals
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Copyright 2009-2017,
H2R Minutes
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