The disease management sector has been evolving rapidly since the concept was introduced in the mid 1990's. The initial focus was to treat chronic conditions in the most cost efficient way in the hope of reducing the spending associated with chronic diseases, which are estimated to drive approximately 75 percent of the nation's total health care spending. The initial response was that of skepticism. While many players have attempted to demonstrate their respective disease management program returns on investment, no standardization was established to measure the amount of cost savings and the quality of outcomes as a result of their programs.
Since the dawn of e-mail, patients have been pleading for more doctors to offer medical advice online. No traffic jams, no long waits, no germ-infested offices with outdated magazines and bad elevator music. But most health insurers wouldn't pay for it. In recent weeks, Aetna Inc., the nation's largest insurer, and Cigna Corp. have agreed to reimburse doctors for online visits. Other large insurers are expected to follow, experts say.
Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton came closer to explaining how she would enforce her proposal that everyone have health insurance, but declined to specify, as she has throughout the campaign, how she would penalize those who refuse. She added that the focus on enforcement clouded the more important point that her proposal to cover the uninsured was superior to Senator Barack Obama's because she would mandate coverage for all, but he would require it only for children.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine says patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms--a deadly weakening in the blood vessel that fuels the lower half of the body--are most likely to live and quickly recover if they are treated with stents instead of surgery. That's good news for Medtronic Inc., which is one of the leading makers of aortic stents.
The biggest problem facing the healthcare industry isn't the quality or availability of treatment. The real danger to our national medical system is the soaring cost of getting the bills collected. Each year, more than $350 billion is spent needlessly as bills bounce among patients, doctors and insurers, says J.R. Thomas, chief executive of Irving (TX)-based MedSynergies Inc
The federal government's plans for dealing with pandemic flu do not adequately account for the overwhelming strain an outbreak would place on hospitals and public health systems trying to cope with millions of seriously ill Americans, some public health experts say. Critics say the Bush administration's plans have left too much of the responsibility and the cost of preparing to a healthcare system that even in normal times is stretched to the breaking point and leaves millions of people without adequate access to care.
A study conducted by Children's Hospital and Regional Medical Center shows that many children hospitalized for influenza had already been in the hospital at least once before during a flu season, which would have been a good time to vaccinate them against the virus. The national study, published in the February 2008 issue of Pediatrics, suggests that providing flu shots for children who happen to be in the hospital during flu-vaccine season could help prevent more hospitalizations and complications from the flu.
When surgeons implanted electrodes in his brain, the 50-year-old man was suddenly transported to a moment three decades earlier. He was in a park with friends, and could see the clothes they were wearing and what the weather was like. The discovery was an accident, but the team hopes it might lead to better care for patients with memory disturbances.
The subsidized insurance program at the heart of Massachusetts' healthcare initiative is expected to roughly double in size and expense over the next three years. Thisn unexpected level of growth could cost state taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars or force the state to scale back its ambitions. The state has asked the federal government to shoulder roughly half of the program's cost from 2009 through 2011, but there is no guarantee of that funding. The Commonwealth Care program provides free or subsidized insurance for low- and moderate-income residents.
Professional athletes are often at the forefront of sports medicine, presenting injuries and special circumstances that can require medical professionals to develop better techniques, new instruments, and accelerated rehabilitation plans. A symbiotic relationship exists between sports medicine professionals (orthopedic surgeons, trainers, physical therapists) and athletes, each pushing the other toward new discoveries about how the body performs and heals best. With sports medicine advancements, the more necessary for success it becomes for professional teams to have forward-looking medical service dedicated to innovative, all-around care.
