August 3rd, 2009 by EvanFalchukJD in Better Health Network, Health Policy
Tags: Democrats, Employer, Finance, General Mills, Health Insurance, Health Plans, Marriott, Personal Responsibility, Safeway, Steve Burd, Stifle Innovation, Wal-Mart, Wellness, Yoga
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I thought everyone knew the major goal of health care reform is to control spending.
Then why are Democratic leaders proposing changes that would outlaw some of the most successful cost-savings programs in the country?
Today’s The Hill reports on the new strategy to attack insurance companies as “villains.” No doubt, health insurers have a bad reputation and have done plenty to earn it. As the Hill reports, the message is going to be that the reform plan will lead to “capping what [insurers] can force you to pay in out-of-pocket expenses, co-pays and deductibles.”
But for at least half of Americans – those who work for large and mid-sized companies and their families – their “insurer” is actually their employer. And many of these employers have been using out-of-pocket expenses, co-pays and deductibles to improve employee health, and reduce the cost of care. They are creating strong wellness programs and creating financial rewards and penalties, all based on employee participation.
As I wrote in April:
Companies like Safeway, Wal-Mart, Michelin, General Mills, Marriott and so many others have implemented programs to create a “culture” of wellness among their employees and their families. Leaders at these companies constantly talk about living healthy lifestyles, and are paying to make it happen. At Michelin, employees get a cash reward for getting a biometric screening and for participating in company-sponsored health improvement programs. It even started work-site exercise programs, including yoga (although it found that with a workforce that was 82% male it had to call its yoga classes “strengthening and conditioning”).
General Mills published wellness statistics about its different plants and found that the workers in each one competed with the others to get the best scores for BMI and other important health metrics. Marriott found that by eliminating co-pays on drugs for certain chronic diseases, more employees followed doctors’ orders to take them, and although Mariott’s drug costs went up, overall health expenses went down. Abbott Labs brings in motivational speakers and set up weigh-in kiosks in its offices that took pictures of employees as they got healthier so they could see the difference. All of these companies reported on enthusiastic participation, and a sense among employees that their company cared about their well-being.
Safeway has taken this idea even further, and redesigned its entire benefits plan around this concept. Employees who live unhealthy lifestyles and refuse to participate in wellness programs pay more for their health insurance — just like a bad driver pays more for auto insurance. Safeway did this in a highly positive and motivational way, making available a wide array of free services to help employees be more healthy and enjoy lower health premiums. The results have been dramatic: Steve Burd, Safeway’s CEO reported at the WHCC that Safeway’s health costs have been flat since 2005.
This Safeway model – creating both soft and hard incentives for employee health – is one of the fastest growing trends in plan design. The idea is to give employees control over their own health care, including financial responsibility. When this happens, employees live healthier, look for value in their health care spending, and overall costs are lower.
And yet the statements from the Congressional leadership suggest they want to severely limit these kinds of innovations.
It may be good politics to demonize the insurers, but we should realize that “insurers” aren’t exactly who we think they are. Health reform that stifles the innovation that’s working at America’s best companies is no reform at all.
*This blog post was originally published at See First Blog*
August 2nd, 2009 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News
Tags: ATP, Blue Dye, Rats, Spinal Cord Injury
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Researchers at University of Rochester Medical Center injected mice that had spinal cord injury with a derivative of food coloring Blue Number One. The Brilliant Blue G (BBG) dye, which helps control the activity of ATP by blocking its activation of P2X7 receptors, was shown to help repair the injured spinal cords when treated animals even started moving their previously paralyzed limbs. Interestingly, it was recently discovered that excessive release of ATP, a compound typically known as a biological power source, augments tissue injury by activating these high-affinity P2X7 receptors.
University of Rochester explains:
“While we achieved great results when oxidized ATP was injected directly into the spinal cord, this method would not be practical for use with spinal cord-injured patients,” said lead researcher Maiken Nedergaard, M.D., D.M.Sc., professor of Neurosurgery and director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center. “First, no one wants to put a needle into a spinal cord that has just been severely injured, so we knew we needed to find another way to quickly deliver an agent that would stop ATP from killing healthy motor neurons. Second, the compound we initially used, oxidized ATP, cannot be injected into the bloodstream because of its dangerous side effects.”
Neurons in the spinal cord are so susceptible to ATP because of a molecule known as “the death receptor.” Scientists know that the receptor – called P2X7 – plays a role in regulating the deaths of immune cells such as macrophages, but in 2004, Nedergaard’s team discovered that P2X7 also is carried in abundance by neurons in the spinal cord. P2X7 allows ATP to latch onto motor neurons and send them the flood of signals that cause their deaths, worsening the spinal cord injury and resulting paralysis.
So the team set its sights on finding a compound that not only would prevent ATP from attaching to P2X7, but could be delivered intravenously. In a fluke, Nedergaard discovered that BBG, a known P2X7R antagonist, is both structurally and functionally equivalent to the commonly used FD&C blue dye No. 1. Approved by the Food and Drug Administration as a food additive in 1982, more than 1 million pounds of this dye are consumed yearly in the U.S.; each day, the average American ingests 16 mgs. of FD&C blue dye No. 1.
“Because BBG is so similar to this commonly used blue food dye, we felt that if it had the same potency in stopping the secondary injury as oxidized ATP, but with none of its side effects, then it might be great potential treatment for cord injury,” Nedergaard said.
The team was not disappointed. An intravenous injection of BBG proved to significantly reduce secondary injury in spinal cord-injured rats, who improved to the point of being able to walk, though with a limp. Rats that had not received the BBG solution never regained the ability to walk. There was one side effect: Rats who were injected with BBG temporarily had a blue tinge to their skin.
More from National Geographic…
Abstract in PNAS: Systemic administration of an antagonist of the ATP-sensitive receptor P2X7 improves recovery after spinal cord injury
Press release: Common Food Dye May Hold Promise in Treating Spinal Cord Injury
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
August 2nd, 2009 by admin in Better Health Network, News
Tags: Diet and Nutrition, organic, Organic Food, pesticides
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I have been bombarded with questions about this new study released yesterday about organic food being no healthier than conventionally grown produce. The study is in the September issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition.
Organics have been growing in the marketplace at a very steady rate of about 20% for years. Are they worth the higher price tag?
This particular study was a review of scientific papers published in the past 50 years on nutritional quality of organic foods. They found that there was no statistically significant difference between organic and conventional produced foods in terms of nutritional value.
Many people were disappointed in this news, but remember that they just studied nutritional value. They did not address in this study the difference between pesticide and fertilizer residue, environmental impact, hormone levels, etc. When you make the decision of organic vs. conventional, there are many issues to consider.
If you want help making this decision, check out this link to the 12 “dirtiest” foods that tend to have the most pesticide residue and the 12 “cleanest” foods that have very little. Spend your organic dollars on the dirtiest and save your money on the cleanest.
The Organic Center has a different take on the study recently released and believes organic food does have higher nutritional quality, especially when talking about antioxidants. Read their response here. You can also link to their study from 2008 that found organic food with higher nutritional quality.
This post, Organic Food Not More Nutritious – But May Have Different Pesticide Exposure, was originally published on
Healthine.com by Brian Westphal.
August 2nd, 2009 by BarbaraFicarraRN in Better Health Network, Health Tips
Tags: Doctors, How To Use, Nurses, Twitter, Why Should I Use Twitter
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I use Twitter and I like it. As a registered nurse, twitter helps me promote health and wellness and it helps me educate the public on vital health topics.
It allows me to tweet about an upcoming radio show, link to informative websites and blogs, or retweet (RT) a tweet.
I can read about the latest breaking health news, learn about the latest in health 2.0 and
sometimes it simply allows me connect with colleagues and consumers in a fun and friendly fashion.
Twitter has become a source for obtaining the latest news and information. Short snippets of info flow to and fro faster than you can say “uncle.”
In 140 characters or less you can say what you need to say. While some tweets aren’t relevant, I mean really, do we need to know that you’ve waiting in a long line at Starbucks for your café latte? No, but sometimes the mundane tweets helps humanize you a bit.
Tweeters
When a Tweet passes my way that is directed from Dr. Sanjay Gupta, CNN (@sanjayguptacnn), Gwenn O’Keefe, MD, (@drgwenn), Jennifer Shu, MD (@livingwelldoc), Val Jones, MD (@drval), Kevin Pho, MD (@kevinmd), CDC, (@cdcemergency), Daniel Sands, MD (@DrDannySands), or American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP), (@emergencydocs); just to name a few, I can feel good knowing that the 140 characters or less of info is accurate, reliable and trustworthy.
Educate the Public
Doctors, nurses and other health care professionals can provide accurate,complete, reliable and trustworthy health information.
Tweeting is the perfect opportunity to help educate the public.
I asked three doctors who use twitter to share their thoughts. Here’s what they said:
Kevin Pho, MD, a primary care physician and a nationally recognized medical commentator who publishes provocative medical commentary at KevinMD.com –
Twitter offers an opportunity for doctors to provide instant feedback, faster than they can even from blogging. This can range from providing updates on surgery, which Detroit’s Henry Ford Hospital has done, to giving opinions on the latest, breaking studies. Twitter can provide more transparency to what goes on in the physician’s world, and allow both patients and other doctors to interact with one another in a quick, convenient way.
Gwenn O’Keefe, MD, pediatrician and editor, pediatricsnow.com –
When we graduate medical school and say the modern Hippocratic oath, we promise to not only do no harm but care for people by respecting the society in which they live. Like it or not, technology is part of that society so we have a responsibility to not only respect it but learn it and use it for the greater good of family health in whatever ways necessary and on whatever platforms are available.
Daniel Z. Sands, MD, Director of Medical Informatics at Cisco IBSG and a primary care physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center –
By following tweets from health information sources that they trust, people can get general health tips, preventive health information, disease specific information, and even suggestions about to be more engaged in their healthcare. You might also get health coaching from a health professional, a health coach, or even peers (“Did you exercise today?” “I walked 5110 steps today—how many did you walk?”).
The take-away message
Everyone needs to be alert regarding the tweets they receive. Just because a tweet is about a health topic, that doesn’t mean it’s accurate.
Health consumers need to check the source. Doctors and nurses can help educate the public on vital health topics with information that is accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
You can follow me on twitter @barbaraficarra. Thanks!
This topic continues on today’s Health in 30 Radio Show on WRCR at 12:30 pm EST. Kevin Pho, MD will join me to talk about “Doctors and Social Media.” For more info please go to Healthin30.com.
*This blog post was originally published at Health in 30*
August 1st, 2009 by KerriSparling in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion
Tags: Diabetes, Government-run Healthcare, Joslin, Single Payer, Valerie Jarrett
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Two weeks ago, I was in Washington, DC with the Better Health team, listening to people talk about voting down government health care.
Last week, I was in Chicago at BlogHer, part of a lunch meeting with Valerie Jarrett, Senior Advisor to the President and Assistant to the President for Intergovernmental Relations and Public Liaison, listening to women at BlogHer talk about passing the government health care bill.
And I have now just entered the land of confusion.
Valerie Jarrett spoke with a room full of bloggers about health care, but she also listened. She listened while women told their personal stories and she seemed to understand that health care situations aren’t as simple to solve as we’d like them to be. Women candidly told their stories and a few tears even slipped out. But she listened intently. And she said she wanted to give a voice to those who might not speak up for themselves.
“Often the people who need it the most don’t speak up because they don’t feel like they have a voice. Give the grass roots a voice, empower them, work together informing people within their communities. You can work to help them get their voice, get info that they don’t have.”
This lady is important. Her cell phone rang several times during our lunch (it could have been THE PRESIDENT, for crying out loud) and she had her assistant take the call so she could focus on us. She handed out her card and scheduled phone calls between some bloggers and her staff to help with the specific health issues that these bloggers were dealing with. Sure, for them it was a matter of being in the right time at the right place, but she really listened. I’ve never sat in a room before with a member of high political influence who paid attention to the people more than the information on her cell phone or in her planner. (Maybe that means I’ve been in the room with the wrong politicians?)
It was a remarkable experience, and the room was electric with hope.
And now I’m even more confused about this health care issue. I want insurance coverage, I want good coverage, but I don’t want to be excluded due to my pre-existing condition. I can’t find a happy mental medium with this, but I know there has to be a way for people like me to find health coverage despite diabetes.
With that thought, I’m off to the Joslin Clinic in Boston, with my pregnant best friend in tow, to immerse myself in the best that health care has to offer. And I hope that whatever decision made by our government leaves me with access to the people I need to help manage my care.
*This blog post was originally published at Six Until Me.*
