At least two people have died undergoing an experimental and controversial treatment, chelation, used for those with heart problems, although doctors say there is no known direct link between the deaths and the treatment. Officials are now investigating whether those participating in the treatment were properly informed of the risks associated with it. More than 1,500 heart attack survivors are involved in the research.
Federal health officials encouraged Medicare participants to shop around for their prescription drug coverage next year because it could include significant price increases or changes regarding which drugs the plans will cover. Most beneficiaries will see an increase in their monthly premiums if they stay with the same insurer. For those enrolled in the 10 most popular drug plans, the cost increases will range from 8% to as much as 64%.
Tubes, capsules, and pellets of used radioactive material are piling up in the basements and locked closets of hospitals and research installations around the country, stoking fears they could get lost or, worse, stolen by terrorists and turned into dirty bombs. For years, truckloads of low-level nuclear waste from most of the U.S. were taken to a rural South Carolina landfill, but a state law that took effect July 1 ended nearly all disposal of radioactive material at the landfill, leaving 36 states with no place to throw out some of the stuff.
The University of California, Irvine Medical Center has been put under state supervision based on its anesthesiology department's "inability to provide quality healthcare in a safe environment," according to a federal report. Among other failings, doctors were cited for filling out medical records in advance, suggesting specific outcomes before procedures were done. CMS has accepted the department's plan of correction, but warns the hospital could lose federal funding if the problems are not corrected.
St. Luke's Health System of Kansas City will stop accepting insurance provided by UnitedHealthcare as of February. The separation comes after nearly a year and a half of trying to come to an agreement. Officials say, however, that a Medicare supplement plan that is administered by United, which insures about 20% of the Kansas City market, will not be affected.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has signed two measures requiring California hospitals to strengthen their efforts at preventing staph outbreaks and to reveal to the public their rates of infection. Although the governor vetoed similar legislation four years ago, concerns about the growth of these bacteria—and state inspections finding that some hospitals were not preventing their spread—have made infections a top public health priority.
Both presidential candidates have discussed their plans for healthcare reform—according to officials, coordinated care should be a top priority. A survey conducted by the Mayo Clinic Health Policy Center found that about 53% of Americans suffer from a chronic condition that requires long-term care, care that should be coordinated by their primary care doctor. Coordinated care is essential to offering high quality health services at affordable costs.
More than half of medical and surgical residents interviewed during a recent Massachusetts General Hospital study said they knew of at least one time in the last month of their rotations where a patient handoff was flawed. One in nine of these residents said the flawed handoff led to significant harm for a patient.
According to a survey of almost 1,000 infection preventionists, an increase in executive and physician leadership and improvements in general infection prevention practices are needed to help prevent healthcare-associated infections and improve patient care.
With healthcare expected to make up 25% of the gross domestic product by 2030, there is a need for strong leaders in the areas of health policy and population health. That's why Thomas Jefferson University in Philadelphia will open the Jefferson School of Health Policy and Population Health in September 2009. David Nash, MD, MBA, FACP, who will lead the new program, says the curriculum will heavily study quality and patient safety.
