Value-based Care
Health Plans That Nudge Patients to Do the Right Thing
11 Jul, 2017 | 18:33h | UTCHealth Plans That Nudge Patients to Do the Right Thing – New York Times (10 articles per month are free)
“What if health insurance was more generous in paying for things that actually work?” (RT @NYTHealth see Tweet)
Association of delay of urgent or emergency surgery with mortality and use of health care resources
10 Jul, 2017 | 15:09h | UTCCommentary: Patients whose emergency surgery is delayed are at higher risk of death – Canadian Medical Association Journal, via EurekAlert (free)
Source: STAT News Newsletter
“Delayed operating room access for emergency surgery was associated with increased risk of inhospital mortality, longer length of stay and higher costs”.
The rise of antibiotic-resistant infections threaten economies
10 Jul, 2017 | 14:55h | UTCThe rise of antibiotic-resistant infections threaten economies – Finantial Times (a few articles per month are free) (RT @greg_folkers see Tweet)
Related report: Drug-Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future – World Bank (Free PDF) AND Infographic: Drug Resistant Infections: A Threat to Our Economic Future (free) AND News Release: By 2050, drug-resistant infections could cause global economic damage on par with 2008 financial crisis (free)
Effective Care for High-Need Patients
10 Jul, 2017 | 14:53h | UTCEffective Care for High-Need Patients: Opportunities for Improving Outcomes, Value, and Health (free PDF)
See also: News release (free) AND Executive summary (free PDF) AND Key Points (free PDF) AND Characteristics of Successful Care Models for High-Need Patients (free PDF)
See more resources on high-need, high-cost patients in our July 4th issue (see #2)
Source: STAT News Newsletter
“Nearly half of the nation’s spending on health care is driven by 5 percent of patients, and improving health outcomes and curbing spending in health care will require identifying who these high-needs patients are and providing coordinated services” (from EurekAlert)
Medication nonadherence may increase health care costs
8 Jul, 2017 | 20:19h | UTCLongitudinal Patterns of Medication Nonadherence and Associated Health Care Costs – Inflammatory Bowel Diseases (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentary: Taking medications as prescribed important to control health care costs – Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, via EurekAlert (free)
In this small study, patients with increasing nonadherence over time demonstrate more than a 3-fold increase in costs compared with adherent patients.
The Smart-Medicine Solution to the Health-Care Crisis
8 Jul, 2017 | 20:16h | UTCViewpoint: The Smart-Medicine Solution to the Health-Care Crisis – The Wall Street Journal (by @EricTopol) (a few articles per month are free)
“Our health-care system won’t be fixed by insurance reform. To contain costs and improve results, we need to move aggressively to adopt the tools of information-age medicine”.
Displaying Lab Test Costs in Electronic Health Records Doesn’t Deter Doctors from Ordering Them
7 Jul, 2017 | 13:55h | UTCHow Not To Lower Healthcare Costs – Forbes (free)
Related article: Effect of a Price Transparency Intervention in the Electronic Health Record on Clinician Ordering of Inpatient Laboratory Tests: The PRICE Randomized Clinical Trial – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text) AND Commentary: Displaying Lab Test Costs in Electronic Health Records Doesn’t Deter Doctors from Ordering Them – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, via NewsWise (free)
We’re not ready for the ‘silver tsunami’ of older adults living with câncer
5 Jul, 2017 | 16:17h | UTCWe’re not ready for the ‘silver tsunami’ of older adults living with câncer – The Conversation (free)
New Choosing Wisely Canada List – Five Things Residents and Patients Should Question
5 Jul, 2017 | 15:28h | UTCNew Choosing Wisely Canada List: Medical Education: Residents: Five Things Residents and Patients Should Question (free) (RT @ChooseWiselyCA see Tweet)
See more on the Choosing Wisely initiative in our April 5 issue (see #6).
Re-designing the pathway to surgery: better care and added value
3 Jul, 2017 | 17:16h | UTCRe-designing the pathway to surgery: better care and added value – Perioperative Medicine (free)
Source: Critical Care Reviews Newsletter
Hospitalists’ Winning Abstracts Target High-Value Care
3 Jul, 2017 | 17:21h | UTCHospitalists’ Winning Abstracts Target High-Value Care – Medscape (free registration required)
““High-value” care was a hot topic at this year’s #HM17” (RT @Medscape see Tweet)
Waiting and watching with ‘Stage 0’ breast cancer put to nationwide test
3 Jul, 2017 | 15:38h | UTCWaiting and watching with ‘Stage 0’ breast cancer put to nationwide test – The Washington Post (a few articles per month are free)
“Treatment of early-stage breast cancer: is no treatment an option?” (RT @GemmaJacklyn see Tweet)
Redesigning Care for High-Cost, High-Risk Patients
3 Jul, 2017 | 13:36h | UTCRedesigning Care for High-Cost, High-Risk Patients – Harvard Business Review (a few articles per month are free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
Related: Designing a High-Performing Health Care System for Patients with Complex Needs: Ten Recommendations for Policymakers – The Commonwealth Fund (free) AND Caring for High-Need, High-Cost Patients — An Urgent Priority – New England Journal of Medicine (Free) AND Multimorbidity: clinical assessment and management – NICE Guideline (free) AND Multimorbidity in Older Adults with Cardiovascular Disease – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (Free full text) AND Focusing on High-Cost Patients — The Key to Addressing High Costs? – NEJM Catalyst (free) AND Richard Smith: The challenge of high need, high cost patients – The BMJ Blogs (free) AND Playbook: Better Care for People with Complex Needs – Institute for Healthcare Improvement (free)
Newer is not necessarily better
3 Jul, 2017 | 15:42h | UTCNewer is not necessarily better – Students 4 Best Evidence (free)
This is the fifth in a series of 34 blogs based on a list of ‘Key Concepts’ developed by an Informed Health Choices project team.
Precision Medicine: the Promise vs. the Reality
29 Jun, 2017 | 15:36h | UTCPrecision Medicine: the Promise vs. the Reality – Michigan University Health Lab (free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
“Scientists find great potential in using genetic sequencing to help direct targeted cancer therapy, but practicing oncologists see some important limitations”.
Free Online Course: Measuring and Valuing Health
28 Jun, 2017 | 22:27h | UTCFree Online Course: Measuring and Valuing Health – The University of Sheffield and FutureLearn (RT @Imperial_GHD see Tweet)
“Learn how Patient Reported Outcome Measures and Quality Adjusted Life Years can compare treatments and inform healthcare spending”.
Hospital Visits by Nurse Practitioners Prevent Readmission
28 Jun, 2017 | 22:46h | UTCHospital Visits by Nurse Practitioners Prevent Readmission – Medscape (free registration required)
A Reality Check for IBM’s AI Ambitions
28 Jun, 2017 | 17:27h | UTCA Reality Check for IBM’s AI Ambitions – MIT Technology Review (free) (RT @EricTopol see Tweet)
“IBM overhyped its Watson machine-learning system, but the company still could have the best access to the kind of data needed to make medicine much smarter”.
Asthma self-management programmes can reduce unscheduled care
27 Jun, 2017 | 20:39h | UTCAsthma self-management programmes can reduce unscheduled care – NIHR Signal (free)
Original article: Systematic meta-review of supported self-management for asthma: a healthcare perspective – BMC Medicine (free)
Cardiovascular Testing and Clinical Outcomes in Emergency Department Patients With Chest Pain
28 Jun, 2017 | 22:04h | UTCCardiovascular Testing and Clinical Outcomes in Emergency Department Patients With Chest Pain – JAMA Internal Medicine (link to abstract – $ for full-text)
Commentaries: Cardiac Tests in ED Patients Not Tied to Better Outcomes – Medscape (free registration required) AND Cardiac Testing for Slight ACS Risk Just Means More Procedures – MedPage Today (free registration required) AND Cardiac Testing in Emergency Room Chest Pain Patients – American College of Cardiology, Latest in Cardiology (free)
Contact Precautions for Endemic MRSA and VRE: Time to Retire Legal Mandates
26 Jun, 2017 | 19:41h | UTCViewpoint: Contact Precautions for Endemic MRSA and VRE: Time to Retire Legal Mandates – JAMA (free)
“Contact precautions are easy to use w a single patient, but burdensome when applied to an entire hospital” (RT @JAMA_current see Tweet)
This viewpoint suggests a more selective use of contact precautions for the control of endemic pathogens.
Monitoring Medical Devices: Missed Warning Signs Within Existing Data
26 Jun, 2017 | 21:27h | UTCViewpoint: Monitoring Medical Devices: Missed Warning Signs Within Existing Data – JAMA (free)
Related: The lap band for weight loss is a tale of medicine gone wrong – VOX (free) Reoperation and Medicare Expenditures After Laparoscopic Gastric Band Surgery – JAMA Surgery (link to abstract – $ for full-text) AND Safety, Effectiveness of Gastric Banding Called Into Question – Medscape (free registration required) AND 1 In 5 Gastric Band Surgeries Require Corrective Operations – American Council on Science and Health (free)
The authors use the example of gastric band surgery to discuss how available data may be used more appropriately for earlier detection of problems in the safety of medical devices.
Point of view: Generalists key to improved hospital outcomes
26 Jun, 2017 | 17:26h | UTCPoint of view: Generalists key to improved hospital outcomes – MJA Insights (free)
It’s time to disrupt the existing hospital business model
26 Jun, 2017 | 14:59h | UTCIt’s time to disrupt the existing hospital business model – Brookings (free) (RT @pash22 see Tweet)
Fiscal policies for the prevention of diseases
26 Jun, 2017 | 15:22h | UTCPolicy lessons from health taxes: a systematic review of empirical studies – BMC Public Health (free)
Related: Proper debate on sugar tax needed in fight against obesity and diabetes – The AGE (free)
See more on Fiscal policies for the prevention of diseases in our June 8th issue (see #4) and in our April 20th issue (see #1)
“91 studies on health taxes show they change consumption: a systematic review of empirical studies” (RT @BoydSwinburn see Tweet)