August 16th 2023
Improving patient monitoring through care-at-home services could help reduce maternal mortality, they say.
Politics aside, we have a chance to prevent a deadly cancer
July 1st 2006About two hours after a colleague and I lamented over breakfast about Americans' shortcomings in wellness, I heard the news that the vaccine for human papillomavirus (HPV) had received the final nod from FDA. Now there was something Americans were actually doing pretty well: immunizing.
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More on OTCs (June 2006): Paradigm shift
June 1st 2006Although any change in moving newly released over-the-counter (OTC)medications to benefit designs or formularies is currently beingdriven by health plans, other emerging market factors willinfluence how plans and employer groups think about coverage forOTCs. For example, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota has hadnumerous inquiries about OTC coverage, usually from employer groupsthat know Medicaid and some Part D plans can cover OTCs. Inaddition, some states are evaluating their pharmacy practiceguidelines to determine how to revise them to accommodate changesin dispensing OTCs. This change is driven by the addition of OTCsto formularies and by the move to put pseudoephedrines behind thecounter. Another industry trend in some states, includingMinnesota, allows pharmacists to prescribe OTC products for publicprogram recipients.
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Perhaps back when she was a graduate student at California State University, Sacramento (CSUS), Dorothy Tarrant, LCSW, MPA, had an idea that someday she would end up in her current role as the healthcare ombudsman/mediator (HCOM) for Kaiser Permanente's Redwood City Medical Center in California.
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Effective medicines now available to combat osteoporosis
March 1st 2006In the United States today, 10 million people have osteoporosis (bone density that's about 25% less than a healthy young adult). In addition, 34 million more people have low levels of bone mass, placing them at increased risk. Osteoporosis is responsible for more than 1.5 million fractures annually, including 300,000 hip fractures, approximately 700,000 vertebral fractures, 250,000 wrist fractures, and more than 300,000 other fractures. About 68% of those affected by osteoporosis are women.
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If you're going to choose a consultant to help you navigate today's ever-changing healthcare waters, you'd probably look for three key qualifications: experience, insight and diversity. While those characteristics might seem obvious, finding someone with those traits isn't always so apparent.
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Next-generation episode grouping could drive care quality
October 1st 2005In the september issue, Part I of this two-part series on episode grouping focused on how this method of statistical tracking enables healthcare organizations to more effectively deliver the most appropriate treatments in order to manage the associated costs.
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Regional differences might exist in the cost of injectables
June 1st 2005While the overall cost of injectables is relatively consistent from health plan to health plan, regional differences exist in the total cost of individual therapy classes as a result of PMPM utilization, necessitating payers to develop injectable management programs that are customized for their geographical service area. Examples of these regional differences include the higher incidence of multiple sclerosis in northern states, higher prevalence of older Americans in states such as Florida and Arizona (and the associated higher oncology costs), and infertility costs in states where coverage is state-mandated.
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Levodopa remains principal treatment for Parkinson's disease
April 1st 2005Parkinson's Disease is a chronic, progressive neurological disorder that occurs when neurons in the part of the brain that controls movement start to degenerate. This leads to a shortage of the neurotransmitter dopamine, causing characteristic movement problems.
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Surgery, radiation, chemo, recombinant antibody combat breast cancer
March 1st 2005BREAST CANCER is the most common cancer found in women, and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women. More than 200,000 new cases of invasive breast cancer are diagnosed in the United States each year, approximately 77% of them in women over 50 years of age.
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DEAN F. NELSON, MD, was the first board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist in the state of Utah. Not only was he the first, he also was one of the best when it came to connecting with patients and really understanding them, recalls his son, American Medical Assn. (AMA) President John C. Nelson, MD, MPH.
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Special Report Web Exclusive: Diversity, To Ask or Not to Ask
August 1st 2004Is it legal to ask health plan members their race and ethnicity? Accordingto the Civil Rights Act of 1964, it is; however, California, New Jersey,New Hampshire and Maryland restrict the use and collection of racial data.With the go-ahead from the federal government, health insurers are usingthe data to design strategies to improve care for specific populations.
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