November 12th, 2011 by Medgadget in Research
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Cost scrutiny and comparative effectiveness research are playing a growing role in shaping healthcare delivery. In light of that, Abiomed Inc. (Danvers, MA) has recently announced the results of a study that showed the company’s Impella heart pump significantly reduced major adverse events at an incremental cost per quality-adjusted life year. “The cost-effective message is directly tied to the financial impact of these better clinical outcomes for patients treated with Impella,” Jeffrey Popma, MD, the director of the angiographic Core Laboratory at Beth Israel Deaconess told Medgadget. Popma was responsible for the planned analysis of the angiographic results.
The device, which the company describes as the “world’s smallest heart pump,” demonstrated an increase in ejection fraction of more than 20% and an improvement in Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
November 12th, 2011 by DrWes in Opinion
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“I estimate these changes to your charting work flow will take only five minutes.”
Five minutes is fine if it happens for only one patient. But when it is multiplied by as many as forty patients in a day, the multiples get impressive. Five minutes x forty patients = 200 minutes (more than 1.5 hours a day).
Minor five-minute changes to administrative charting requirements aren’t so minor, especially when you add more time for quality assurance reporting or pay-for-performance initiatives. Suddenly huge swaths of time from a doctor’s opportunity to take care of their patients. We need more care time and less data entry time. Doctors must insist that we not become data entry clerks.
Increasingly, I see the data entry burdens of regulatory health care documentation requirements falling on doctors. On first blush, this seems logical because only doctors (or very capable, highly trained surrogates) understand the nuances required to make potentially life-altering adjustments to the electronic medical record. But when new administrative documentation requirements are added to doctors and other care providers, it Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Dr. Wes*
November 12th, 2011 by GarySchwitzer in Opinion
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I have written many times on this blog about one shining example of the medical arms race – the slow (some would say not so slow), steady, proliferation of huge and hugely expensive proton beam radiation facilities in medical centers in the US. I have written about how the proliferation never seems to occur in single units – rarely just one per town – but almost always two simultaneously – the medical arms race among health care institutions and providers at play.
The latest chapter is playing out in San Diego, as captured by HealthLeaders Media Online senior editor Cheryl Clark.
Excerpts:
“As members of the debt reduction “super committee” wrestle to slice $400 billion from Medicare over 10 years, I wonder what they might say about the $430 million proton beam center war now being waged a few miles from my home in San Diego.
This nearly half a billion dollar investment in proton therapy is a big part of Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Gary Schwitzer's HealthNewsReview Blog*
November 12th, 2011 by AndrewSchorr in Opinion
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Remember when people in the waiting room at a doctor’s office were all reading magazines? It was quiet as each person waited for their name to be called. Even if you went to a specialist’s office, no one dared say “I’m here for _____. What brings you here to see Dr. ____?” No one “shared” even if, just maybe, they had a very similar health concern to the person next to them. Makes sense, health is a private matter, right? Well many people I know don’t feel that way. They feel the benefits of connecting with other patients far outweigh the risks.
The other day I was in Atlanta where 30 or so patients attended an educational “summit” for people with a rare form of leukemia, chronic myelogenous leukemia or CML.While the people who came wanted to be informed and hear the latest from medical experts and an oncology social worker, they also wanted to meet others facing the same diagnosis. Particularly in rare conditions like this one, many patients have never met someone else with the diagnosis – and they very much want to make that connection. They want to hear the stories of others and see if they are like their own.
I found that to be true when Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Andrew's Blog*
November 12th, 2011 by JessicaBerthold in Research
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“Wow, Celexa?”
“Yeah, who knew?”
I overheard this conversation in the ladies’ room immediately after a session speaker advised treating agitation and aggression in dementia with citalopram. Indeed, there was a bit of a murmur in the audience when Dr. Aleta Borrud made the suggestion during her talk at the Mayo Update in Hospital Medicine 2011 course.
Part of the reason for the reaction may be– as a physician I spoke with noted– that Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at ACP Hospitalist*
