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Research roundup: Evidence-based medicine consumer/expert divide; Pay for performance limitations; Improving community health centers

Health Affairs: Evidence That Consumers Are Skeptical About Evidence-Based Health Care - This survey of more than 1,500 patients with employer-based insurance found "there is a fundamental disconnect between the central tenets of evidence-based health care and the knowledge, values, and beliefs held by many consumers."

5 Jun 2010

CSTE 2010 Annual Conference to focus on public health challenges

The Council of State and Territorial Epidemiologists 2010 Annual Conference will be held June 6-10 at the Oregon Convention Center in Portland, Oregon. An array of experts representing federal, state, and local health departments will discuss issues ranging from last year's flu pandemic, obesity, food safety, health care reform, information technology, and the global response to disasters such as the Haiti earthquake.

5 Jun 2010

Unsatisfactory interactions with physicians affect sickle cell disease patients' trust in medical profession

Faculty at the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics have published a study that shows, among adults with sickle cell disease, that unsatisfactory interactions with health-care providers in the past affect their trust in the medical profession more broadly.

5 Jun 2010

EU sends $29M in food, medical aid to combat increasing food insecurity in Africa's Sahel region

The European Union on Wednesday sent $29 million worth of food and medical aid to help "millions facing hunger" across the drought-stricken Sahel region of West Africa, Reuters reports.

5 Jun 2010

BMJ report questions WHO advisors' ties to pharmaceutical industry

"Key scientists behind World Health Organization advice on stockpiling of pandemic flu drugs had financial ties with companies which stood to profit," according to a joint investigation by BMJ in collaboration with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, BBC News reports (6/4).

5 Jun 2010

Roles for payers in HIE, uses of multi-payer portals in healthcare to be discussed at AHIP Institute 2010

NaviNet, America's largest real-time healthcare communications network, announced that two of its senior executives will join industry peers in panel discussions at America's Health Insurance Plans Institute 2010. James Bogdan, senior vice president, will speak on the roles and opportunities for payers in Health Information Exchange, and Tom Morrison, co-founder and chief strategy officer, will discuss the use of multi-payer portals to improve administrative efficiencies in healthcare.

5 Jun 2010

Bangladeshi children who lose mothers more likely to die, Lancet study finds

Children in Bangladesh whose mothers died "had about a 24 percent chance of making it to age 10," while children with mothers had an 89 percent chance of surviving, according to a Lancet study published on Friday, the Associated Press reports.

5 Jun 2010

Siemens Healthcare donates MAGNETOM ESSENZA MRI system to Phoebe Sumter Medical Center

After three long years of hardship to rebuild a cornerstone of the community, the staff of Phoebe Sumter Medical Center welcomed the arrival of a new MAGNETOM® ESSENZA magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) system, compliments of Siemens Healthcare. The new MRI scanner premiered today at the official ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark Siemens' donation after a tornado destroyed the hospital in 2007. State and local political dignitaries and community leaders were on hand for the event.

5 Jun 2010

Maryland doctors to get rewards for cheaper care; In S.D., Sue to open more doc-owned hospitals

CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, the largest insurer in the Maryland, Washington and Northern Virginia market, will begin offering financial rewards to physicians who improve quality while cutting costs. Beginning on Jan. 1, the insurer plans to recruit doctors "to participate in its new initiative designed to cut down on the number of unnecessary diagnostic tests, emergency room visits and hospital re-admissions. To do so, CareFirst is putting the onus on the 5,000 doctors already in its network to revamp the care provided to their patients — particularly those with chronic diseases or at risk of contracting them — and more carefully consider where they send patients when they need to see a specialist or go to the hospital."

5 Jun 2010

St. Jude Medical to pay $3.7M to resolve allegations of illegal kickbacks

Working with an internal whistleblower, Attorney Warner Mendenhall, the Law firm of McLaughlin and McCaffrey, LLP, and Assistant United States Attorneys Alex Rokakis and Michelle Heyer have worked for four years to expose False Claims by St. Jude Medical, Inc. a cardiac device manufacturer.

5 Jun 2010

COBRA subsidy starts running out for some as Congress grapples with extension

Howard Kornblum has been watching every penny for the past 15 months and it's about to get worse. After being laid off from his job as a consulting director in Michigan, he took advantage in March 2009 of a federal subsidy to help pay for health insurance.

5 Jun 2010

South Africa prepares health systems for World Cup disaster — but could be overwhelmed

The Associated Press: South Africa is attempting to prepare its emergency services in case of a disaster at the World Cup, which begins next week. "But the public system won't have to cope alone, the chief medical officer for local tournament organizers said in an interview this week. Dr. Victor Ramathesele outlined plans for what he said would be unprecedented coordination between the public system, the military and the private sector in case of emergency during Africa's first World Cup."

5 Jun 2010

Sebelius defends Berwick for CMS post

The Wall Street Journal: HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius "Thursday rejected criticism of the Obama administration's nominee to run Medicare and Medicaid, saying Republicans were being unfair to Donald Berwick and she was confident he would be confirmed. Dr. Berwick, a Harvard pediatrician and health-quality advocate, has come under sharp attack from Republicans over his ties to Britain's national health system and past writings about how to make health care more efficient.

5 Jun 2010

Survey: Group insurance rates rise for employers

"Group health insurance rates for small and midsize employers are surging for 2011 renewals, according to a survey by the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers," Business Insurance reports.

5 Jun 2010

Insurers, White House bound by need to make overhaul a success

Although the Obama administration and insurance industry had opposing views on aspects of the health bill that Congress eventually passed, they have now found their fortunes bound together as both work to make the overhaul successful, The New York Times reports. "The political fortunes of President Obama and Congressional Democrats depend on their ability to translate its promise into reality for voters, by reining in health costs and making insurance available to everyone at an affordable price.

5 Jun 2010

Obama sets town hall meeting with seniors to tout Medicare rebate checks

President Barack Obama has scheduled a televised town hall meeting Tuesday in Wheaton, Md., "to trumpet one of the most popular provisions of his landmark health care bill: a $250 rebate to help Medicare beneficiaries pay for prescription drugs. ... An estimated 80,000 checks are scheduled to be sent in June, with others to follow on a rolling basis, to Medicare beneficiaries who enter the so-called 'doughnut hole' - a gap in prescription drug coverage that requires them to pay out of pocket" (Stolberg, 6/3).

5 Jun 2010

United American Insurance introduces new 2010 Medicare Supplement plans

United American Insurance Company recently announced the introduction of new 2010 Medicare Supplement standardized plans that meet the requirements set forth by the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. In general, United American's Medicare Supplement products are attained-age, gender-distinct, smoker/nonsmoker, and geographic area rated.

5 Jun 2010

States to curb retiree benefits in search of savings

States are seeking savings in public employee retiree benefits to close sprawling budget gaps, Bloomberg Businessweek reports. "New Jersey and 20 other states are urging early retirements, cutting benefits and demanding employees contribute more in the face of what the Pew Center on the States says is a $1 trillion gap between available assets and what's owed workers."

5 Jun 2010

Health care quality issues: The disconnect between patients and experts

Improving "health literacy" could help improve patient outcomes and quality. This literacy is "the limited ability to understand the technical jargon, the orders, the prescriptions and the forms coming from doctors, nurses, pharmacists and insurance companies. This failure to communicate leads to missed doctor appointments, medications taken incorrectly, instructions ignored — all contributing to worsening health."

5 Jun 2010

N.J. court case examines end-of-life decisions

The Wall Street Journal: A New Jersey court is weighing if the life of Ruben Betancourt "should have been prolonged and who should have made that decision: the hospital or his family." In a lawsuit, "his daughter, Jacqueline Betancourt, contends that her father was aware of his family's presence and that the hospital had no right to terminate life support without the family's agreement."

5 Jun 2010