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Evaluating how hospitals deliver medical care standardizes practices and improves care

In recent years, American hospitals have made significant improvements on standardized, evidence-based measures of clinical performance for several medical conditions, including heart attacks, heart failure, and pneumonia.

20 Jul 2005

Quality of care in U.S. hospitals

Ashish Jha, assistant professor of health policy and management at the Harvard School of Public Health and colleagues from Brigham and Women's Hospital and the Boston Veterans Affairs Healthcare System, have for the first time assessed the quality of care in U.S. hospitals.

20 Jul 2005

ACE inhibitors should be available at no cost to the 8 million Americans over age 65 who have diabetes

Nothing in life is free, the old saying goes. But maybe some things should be, according to a new University of Michigan Health System study.

18 Jul 2005

Study focuses on peripheral arterial disease - availability of vascular surgeons impacts amputation rate

Patients with peripheral arterial disease (PAD) are more likely to have a foot or leg amputated if they live in a region that has few vascular surgeons, according to a Rice University/Baylor College of Medicine study published in the July issue of the Journal of Vascular Surgery.

12 Jul 2005

Quebec wants delay in ban on private medical insurance

The Supreme Court of Canada is considering a request from Quebec for an 18-month delay of its landmark judgment banning private medical insurance.

5 Jul 2005

Americans oppose budget cuts to Medicaid

According to a new national survey released this week in the U.S., the majority of Americans regard the state-federal low-income health care program as very important and strongly oppose budget cuts to Medicaid.

30 Jun 2005

The picture looks grim for older Americans when it comes to health insurance

A new survey has found that almost 70 percent of older Americans in order to cover medical expenses in their later years, endorse the concept of individual health savings accounts.

29 Jun 2005

1.7 million will be anxious when Medicare coverage of anxiety drugs ceases

When the U.S. Government's new prescription drug benefit begins next year a category of drugs commonly used to treat anxiety, insomnia and seizures will not be included.

28 Jun 2005

The CMS demonstration project in oncology

The PricewaterhouseCoopers study that the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) commissioned shows that an estimated $13 billion will be saved from Medicare spending for cancer care through 2013. This is $8.8 billion more than the original intent of Congress in passing the Medicare Modernization Act (MMA).

22 Jun 2005

Medicare's investment in quality improvement may not be paying off

Medicare's quality improvement organizations are charged with improving the medical care of Medicare beneficiaries.

14 Jun 2005

Surgical tools were washed in hydraulic fluid, many report lingering health problems

In a quite shocking revelation it has been discovered that as many as 3,800 patients at two hospitals run by Duke University Health System were operated on last year with instruments that were washed in hydraulic fluid instead of detergent.

14 Jun 2005

Pharmacists support generic drug substitution, but need more information to advise customers

Pharmacists and their customers could benefit from having more information to help them understand and compare the costs of prescription drugs, according to a new AARP study that looks at attitudes and practices regarding the use of generic drugs.

10 Jun 2005

Private health insurance given the go-ahead in Canada

A Quebec law that banned some private health insurance, has been overruled by the Supreme Court of Canada and is a decision which is likely to pave the way to a greater use of private health care to supplement a crumbling public system.

10 Jun 2005

Breakthrough on chronic disease management by GPs

Australian Medical Association (AMA) President, Dr Mukesh Haikerwal, said today that the Australian Government’s introduction of chronic disease items to the Medicare Benefits Schedule (MBS) would deliver a double benefit to GPs and their patients.

9 Jun 2005

African-American and Hispanic patients with diabete are less likely to get eye exams

African-American and Hispanic patients with diabete are less likely than white patients to get eye exams, flu shots or cholesterol tests as part of their diabetes prevention care, according to a new review of recent studies in the latest issue of American Journal of Managed Care.

8 Jun 2005

New generation of lenses makes evolutionary leap in eliminating need for glasses

The need for reading glasses or bifocals as we age may begin fading from sight with the latest generation of intraocular lenses.

3 Jun 2005

Nearly one out of two visits to a doctor's office for help with a sleep disorder result in the prescription of potentially addictive medications

The drugs, called benzodiazepines, are often a cheaper alternative to some newer types of medicines that don't have the same potentially addictive side effects, said Rajesh Balkrishnan, the study's lead author and the Merrell Dow professor of pharmacy at Ohio State University.

1 Jun 2005

Competition from specialty hospitals promotes high-quality patient care

Specialty hospitals provide quality care to patients by offering new choices, and this hospital competition should not be stifled, the American Medical Association (AMA) testified to a subcommittee of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs this week.

26 May 2005

Study supports the view that public concerns about genetic discrimination are substantial

A new study - the largest to date of public attitudes about genetic discrimination - finds that 40 percent of people already undergoing genetic testing are worried that participation might affect their future insurance coverage.

25 May 2005

Leading patient safety advocates assess progress in reducing medical error five years after landmark IOM report

It has been five years since the release of the Institute of Medicine’s landmark report on medical errors, “To Err is Human.” What progress has been made to improve patient safety since the report found that nearly 100,000 deaths occur annually as a result of medical error?

18 May 2005