Health/Disease Strategy

Revised HIV testing guidelines for adults scrutinized

February 1, 2007
Last year acknowledged the 25th year since AIDS was first recognized, and to coincide with that anniversary, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revised its recommendations for HIV testing for adults, adolescents and pregnant women in healthcare settings. The new guidelines remove the onus of determining who is at high risk for HIV infection and makes testing a routine part of medical care for all patients between ages 13 and 64 years.

Choose your battles when resources are scarce

February 1, 2007

In America, we assume that we get what we pay for, whether it be food, clothing or healthcare. Given that healthcare consumes 16% of the Gross Domestic Product and we spend more per capita than any other nation on cutting-edge care, we expect improved outcomes and more bang for the buck. However, these expenditures do not rank the United States first, second or even third in terms of life expectancy, infant mortality, immunization, cancer screening and the like.

Prenatal ultrasound gathering momentum in disease management

January 1, 2007

For more than three decades, clinicians have routinely conducted prenatal ultrasound screenings to detect congenital anomalies, multiple-gestation pregnancies, fetal growth disorders, placental abnormalities and errors in the estimation of gestational age. When managed care was born, executives realized the importance of providing benefit coverage for this test because they recognized prenatal ultrasound is one of the earliest tools in the disease management arsenal to promote fetal, neonatal, and maternal health. In an era where medical costs are surging, and in response, healthcare premiums of employers and their workers have climbed twice as fast as wages and inflation in 2006, the evidence-based benefits of prenatal ultrasound is gaining momentum and medical community recognition as a disease management tool.

Face value: Cleveland Clinic's Michael McMillan focuses on outcomes, value and expanding national access

January 1, 2007

In his job description as executive director of the managed care division for Cleveland Clinic, Michael McMillan is accountable for business relationships with health plans and employers. McMillan is focused on making the Clinic—one of U.S. News & World Report's top three hospitals—available to members of every health plan and managed care organization.

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