Volume V, Issue 17
April 23, 2018
A Call for Cost Transparency 
WH
Mukul Mehra, MD, in an April 20, 2018 KevinMD post, insists doctors need and want cost transparency. "Physicians are the building blocks of value-based care, yet the cumulative human and financial costs of our decisions are mostly hidden from us," he states.

WIM
"Our reality is analogous to being on a diet and a budget at a restaurant that doesn't put prices or calorie counts on the menu," according to Dr. Mehra.
New Medicare Perk For Diabetes Prevention Stumbles At Rollout
WH
Judith Graham reports for KHN on 4.19.18 that the April 1 rollout of the Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program, a major new benefit that could help millions of people, is getting off to a rocky start. The author cites interviews with nearly a dozen experts. In all but a few locations, according to the author's expert sources, Medicare's new prevention program - a yearlong series of classes about healthy eating, physical activity and behavioral change for people at high risk of developing diabetes - isn't up and running yet. And there's no easy way (no phone number or website) to learn where it's available.

WIM
A terrific opportunity to bend the cost curve and improve outcomes is jeopardized by government bureaucracy.
 
Risk of Cross-Contamination From 24-Hour Multi-Patient Use Endoscope Connectors
Letter to Health Care Providers and Staff at Health Care Facilities Performing Gastrointestinal Endoscopy Procedures
WH
According to an FDA.gov post dated April 18, 2018, the FDA is alerting health care providers and facilities about the risk of cross-contamination with certain connectors that are used in gastrointestinal endoscopy. Endoscope connectors that are labeled for use with multiple patients over the course of 24 hours without reprocessing are known as 24-hour multi-patient use endoscope connectors. To date, the FDA has not received acceptable testing to demonstrate the safe use of these products, and recommends against their use.

WIM
This is a grim reminder that even seemingly routine procedures carry potentially grave risks.  
 

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About Us
Florida Health Industry Week in Review is published every Monday by
FHIcommunications. 

Each Monday morning we share the top healthcare headlines of the previous week and summarize
What Happened (WH) and
Why It Matters (WIM).

To learn how you can join our team of editorial contributors, contact Jeffrey Herschler .

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