PROVIDENCE, R.I. [Brown University] — A new study reveals widespread inaccuracy in a quality measure that is self-reported by Medicare Advantage health plans. Researchers found that the vast majority in a sample of 172 such insurers significantly understated their rate of high-risk medication prescriptions.
Culture
PHILADELPHIA— A new study by Penn Medicine researchers published Oct. 1 in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that busy intensive care units (ICUs) discharge patients more quickly than they otherwise would and do so without adversely affecting patient outcomes – suggesting that low-value extensions of ICU stays are minimized during times of increased ICU capacity strain.
Most of the primary care malpractice claims filed in Massachusetts are related to alleged misdiagnoses, according to study by Gordon D. Schiff, M.D., of the Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, and colleagues.
The focus for improving patient safety and malpractice risk is increasingly on outpatient care, according to the study background.
COLUMBIA, Mo. ¬— As the oldest of the baby boomers begin to reach retirement age, a large percentage of Americans are thinking more and more about how much money they must save to be able to retire comfortably. Also, more and more employers are changing retirement benefits from defined-benefit plans, which guarantee some level of retirement income, to defined-contribution plans, which require employees to invest on their own for retirement. All of these changes, plus the recent economic recession, have created a difficult financial environment for future retirees.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust" may be the traditional view when it comes to death. But "ashes to tattoos" is one unconventional way people have found to honor their dead, as mourning goes skin-deep, mobile, wearable and virtual this century.
It's all part of new methods of denying the "messiness of the corpse" and "returning" the dead to us, whether by paying tribute through car decals, T-shirts, online memorials or tattoos etched in conventional ink or even mixed with "cremains" -- cremated human remains, a Baylor University researcher says.
Alexandria, VA – In the first study of its kind, the American Geosciences Institute (AGI) Workforce Program has published the results of the National Geoscience Student Exit Survey, which documents the experiences of graduating geosciences majors. Initial findings support that these new graduates, at all levels, shared some common traits such as the importance of field experiences and exposure to Earth science at the K-12 level.
New Rochelle, NY, September 30, 2013—Divorced men have higher rates of mortality, substance abuse, depression, and lack of social support, according to a new article in Journal of Men's Health.
London -- Are we allowing alcohol marketing to children and teens via the music they love? As many as one in five songs in the UK top ten today include references to alcohol -- a figure rising partly due to US-imported songs. What impact is this having on the youth of today? Experts warn that fresh evidence demonstrates that public health messages on alcohol may no longer be audible over the louder message from some sections of the music industry.
Lugano, Switzerland, 28th September -- Research institutes, regulators and the pharmaceutical industry are urged to cooperate to develop new approaches to testing cancer drugs, in order to bring the revolution in personalised medicine to patients across Europe, says the European Society for Medical Oncology.
New York, NY, September 30, 2013—As the key components of the Affordable Care Act roll out this week, more than three-quarters (76%) of U.S. adults are aware of the law's individual mandate, while only four of 10 are aware of the new health insurance marketplaces opening on October 1, or the financial assistance that is available to help people with low or moderate incomes pay their health insurance premiums, according to a new Commonwealth Fund survey.
Patients with advanced melanoma, who have been treated with the monoclonal antibody, ipilimumab, can survive for up to ten years, according to the largest analysis of overall survival for these patients, presented at the 2013 European Cancer Congress (ECC2013) [1] today (Saturday).
Professor Stephen Hodi (MD), Assistant Professor of Medicine at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (Boston, USA), told the congress: "Our findings demonstrate that there is a plateau in overall survival, which begins around the third year and extends through to the tenth year.
After doing specific training for 12 weeks, people over the age of 90 improved their strength, power and muscle mass. This was reflected in an increase in their walking speed, a greater capacity to get out of their chairs, an improvement in their balance, a significant reduction in the incidence of falls and a significant improvement in muscle power and mass in the lower limbs.
NEW BRUNSWICK, N.J. -- Contrary to perceptions shaped by media coverage and public discussion, the number of children in immigrant families is not the primary reason more children are living in poverty, a Rutgers study has found, raising the question of whether federal policies impacting immigrants should be significantly altered.
Pouring a glass of wine is rarely an exact measurement, especially in a social setting. While most people think of a glass as one serving, in reality it could be closer to two or three. Researchers at Iowa State and Cornell universities discovered just how much one pours is influenced by a variety of environmental factors and could have serious consequences when it comes to overconsumption.
TORONTO, Sept. 27, 2013—Americans in the highest socio-economic groups have a 13 per cent greater chance of surviving a kind of stroke known as a subarachnoid hemorrhage than those in the lowest socio-economic groups, a new study has found.
However, social and economic status have no bearing on mortality rates for subarachnoid hemorrhages, or SAH, in Canada, according to the study led by Dr. Loch Macdonald, a neurosurgeon at St. Michael's Hospital in Toronto.