DorlandHealth

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, April 13, 2010

Contact: HHS Press Office
(202) 690-6343

Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Statement on New Health Care Quality, Disparity Reports

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued the following statement on new reports on health care quality and health care disparities faced by racial, ethnic or income groups. The new reports –  the 2009 National Healthcare Disparities Report and the National Healthcare Quality Report – were released today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

“Today’s reports demonstrate why passing health reform was so critical,” said Sebelius. “In 2009, healthcare associated infections increased and minorities were less likely to have insurance and less likely to get the treatments they needed. In a reformed system, more Americans will get the care they need, regardless of their race or ethnicity and the quality of care will improve. The numbers we saw today are troubling, but ultimately, reform will help turn these numbers around.”

Improvements in Patient Safety Continue To Lag

Press Release Date: April 13, 2010

Improvements in patient safety continue to lag, according to the 2009 National Healthcare Quality Report and National Healthcare Disparities Report issued today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Very little progress has been made on eliminating health care-associated infections (HAIs), according to a new section in the 2009 quality report. For example, of the five types of HAIs in adult patients who are tracked in the reports:

• Rates of postoperative sepsis, or bloodstream infections, increased by 8 percent.
• Postoperative catheter-associated urinary tract infections increased by 3.6 percent.
• Rates of selected infections due to medical care increased by 1.6 percent.
• There was no change in the number of bloodstream infections associated with central venous catheter placements, which are tubes placed in a large vein in the patient's neck, chest, or groin to give medication or fluids or to collect blood samples.
• However, rates of postoperative pneumonia improved by 12 percent.

Employers Not Likely to Drop Health Care Benefits, Crain Survey Finds

Nationwide poll of business executives finds majority see offering coverage as critical to retention and recruiting

DETROIT, April 13 /PRNewswire/ -- A nationwide survey of business executives by Crain Communications Inc about the recent federal health care reform law has found that a majority of U.S. employers are unlikely to cease offering health care benefits to their workers.

The survey, to which nearly 3,700 executives responded, was conducted among readers of Crain Communications' publications, including Workforce Management and Business Insurance, whose audiences include human resources and employee benefits professionals.

Under the health care reform law, beginning in 2014, employers with 50 or more full-time workers must offer health care coverage or pay a fine of $2,000 per full-time worker per year.

New Prime Therapeutics Study Bolsters Evidence that Extended Supply Improves Drug Adherence among Chronically Ill

SAN DIEGO, April 9 /PRNewswire/ -- A new study presented today at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 22nd Annual Meeting by Prime Therapeutics (Prime), a thought-leader in pharmacy benefit management, provides new evidence to support an easy, low-cost way to help keep patients with chronic conditions on their medications: provide them with a three-month drug supply.(1) With clinical research demonstrating the link between adherence and health outcomes for many chronic diseases, this study has important implications for patients, employers and health insurers seeking better health and decreased overall health care costs.

The study, co-authored by Prime and one of its Blue Cross and Blue Shield clients, found that patients who received their medications in 90-day supplies rather than every 30 days, were 40 percent less likely to have adherence problems—meaning they continue to follow their doctor's prescribed drug regimen—than those who received 30-day supplies. Researchers compared adherence rates for patients filling a 90-day supply at a local pharmacy or by mail service to patients filling a 30-day supply at their local pharmacy. Patients were taking medications to treat three common chronic conditions: high blood pressure, diabetes or high cholesterol.

New Database Provides Online Access to Research and Resources in the Health Games Field

Comprehensive resource from Health Games Research to help researchers, game developers and health professionals strengthen the research, design and implementation of health games

SANTA BARBARA, Calif., April 13 -- Health Games Research, a national program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Pioneer Portfolio (RWJF), today unveiled a searchable database tracking more than 1,200 resources related to digital health games. This online tool, available at www.healthgamesresearch.org, for the first time enables researchers, game developers, health professionals, educators, funding agencies and policy makers to access in one place a wide-ranging compilation of health games, research findings, publications, organizations and events in this growing field.

The database, which is searchable by category or by keyword, provides a substantial amount of detail about each item with links to more information. Adding to its interactive nature, users can keep the database current by suggesting new items to include.

"The demand for information about health games is extremely high and continues to rise," said Debra Lieberman, Ph.D., director of Health Games Research and communication researcher at the University of California, Santa Barbara. "This database is designed to serve a wide range of people, from doctors who want to create games in their area of specialty, to health promotion professionals who want to use games in health campaigns, to students looking for academic programs in video game design and production, to game developers looking for health behavior-change strategies to incorporate into their games, to researchers looking for journal articles and collaborators. In addition to providing a wide range of information about the field, the database lists hundreds of health games."

PricewaterhouseCoopers Health Industries Launces New Health Reform Website with Analysis and Implications for Health Organizations

NEW YORK, April 13 -- PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP today launched a new website for their Health Industries practice – www.pwc.com/healthreform – which will serve as a central point of access for PricewaterhouseCoopers' latest insight and analysis on the implications of health reform for health organizations including insurers, physicians, hospitals and other providers, pharmaceutical and life sciences companies and employers.

"Embedded within the Health Care and Education Affordability Reconciliation Act of 2010, signed into law on March 30, is a blueprint for a new health system," said Kelly A. Barnes, U.S. health industries leader, PricewaterhouseCoopers.  "The implications of this new, comprehensive law – including new taxes, regulations and administrative deadlines – present opportunities and challenges that will affect each of the sectors in the health industries in different ways.  Health executives will have to act quickly to plan for the changes ahead and position their organizations for the post-reform world."

For Immediate Release:
April 12, 2010

Media Contact:
Mike Baldyga
202-728-0610, ext. 3005
This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
www.EmergencyCareForYou.org

Nation's Emergency Physicians Warn Parents About the Dangers of Prescription Drug Abuse and Give Advice on How To Protect Kids

Washington, DC — With reports of increased prescription drug overdoses in emergency departments, the nation’s emergency physicians are issuing a strong warning to parents about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, which are now the second most abused drugs, after marijuana.  Hospital visits caused by accidental and unintentional prescription drug overdoses went up 37 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to new data released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.    
 
“Often when you hear that someone has overdosed on drugs you think of illegal substances, such as cocaine or heroin,” said Dr. Angela Gardner, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. “But parents need to know that many young people are taking prescription drugs from the medicine cabinets. Many of the kids wrongly believe the drugs are not addictive, and they don’t realize they can be lethal.”
 

Tucson Medical Center Case Management Earns Franklin Award from ACMA, The Joint Commission

View multi-media release

(OAKBROOK TERRACE, Ill. – April 12, 2010) The Joint Commission and the American Case Management Association (ACMA) today announced that the case management services program of Tucson Medical Center, in Tucson, Arizona, is the winner of the 2010 Franklin Award of Distinction.

Tucson Medical Center’s case management services program is distinctive in that it encompasses the entire hospital, with case managers acting as full members of the management team on patient care units.  Tucson Medical Center’s use of a case management council to discuss practice issues and raise the issues with managers and volunteers also showed they have a strong commitment to patient care.

“Tucson Medical Center demonstrated their distinctive characteristics via an integration of bed control, hospital executive understanding of case management’s role in their accountable care organization designation, evidence of case management’s clinical influence in the plan of care, and their international and nurse practitioner case manager roles,” says L. Greg Cunningham, CEO, ACMA.  “We are pleased to give recognition to the organization and their leadership for their commitment to the practice of Hospital Case Management.”