A service offered by employers called Health Advocate is a call-in center that helps customers find the right doctor, haggle over insurance coverage, and manage other medical system headaches. Health Advocate is one of a growing number of U.S. companies offering advocacy services to medical consumers. Revolution Health, a Web-based medical consumer services company overseen by AOL co-founder Steve Case, has been considering getting into the same business. The health advocacy business may be on track to become a $1 billion industry based on the demand for the service, experts say.
A demonstration held in the Connecticut capitol called on Gov. M. Jodi Rell and the state business community to cut the cost and broaden the accessibility of health insurance during the 2009 legislative session. Citizens for Economic Opportunity organized the march with the Connecticut Citizen Action Group as part of a broader, national initiative sponsored by the advocacy group Health Care for America Now. Organizers said they hoped to draw attention to what they called "the need for quality, affordable healthcare for all Americans," according to a release.
A study that linked the heart drug Vytorin to excess cancer deaths has provoked controversy among heart specialists worried that the drug's risks may outweigh its benefits. The study, called SEAS, was designed to test whether Vytorin could prevent severe, age-related heart valve problems by reducing cholesterol. But lead investigator Terje Pedersen of Ulleval University Hospital reported that the study turned up a link to cancer. At that same session, Oxford University experts released a separate analysis comparing SEAS data with two other ongoing studies and concluded that the cancer link was not credible.
A U.S. advisory panel has found Doribax, an antibiotic produced by Johnson & Johnson, to be effective in treating patients with hospital-acquired pneumonia. The drug is already being used in hospitals to treat abdominal and urinary tract infections.
Hospitals reporting complications from preventable medical errors will no longer be reimbursed by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City. This follows a similar rule recently adopted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. Both rulings will go into effect October 1.
While there is currently no national framework in place to regulate hospital reimbursements when an adverse event occurs, the Texas Hospital Association has adopted new principles that promote accountability for patient safety, and address policies for medical mistakes.