The Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the law of the land but it has promised a lot - higher quality, lower prices and government-run. Will it be able to do all that?
Health care reform advocates are now tasked with going from being part of the outside advocacy groups and more towards part of a solution, but Bob Kocher, MD, and Ezekiel Emanuel, MD, PhD, are still advocating. Now they want a "transparency imperative" to achieve higher quality and cost control under the new health care system.
BOSTON – In any given year, 400,000 Americans suffering from end-stage kidney disease will undergo dialysis, and as many as 20 to 25 percent of those dialysis patients will die, a statistic comparable to many types of cancer.
Since the 1980s, doctors and patients have been encouraged to share decision making. Proponents argue that this approach promotes doctor-patient communication, enhances patient satisfaction, improves health outcomes, and even may lower cost.
Yet, a hospital-based study found that patients who want to participate in their medical decisions end up spending more time in the hospital and raising costs of their hospital stay by an average of $865.
Seriously ill patients undergoing hemodialysis are more optimistic about their prognosis and prospects for transplants than their nephrologists, according to a study published online by JAMA Internal Medicine. The study also found that nephrologists rarely had discussed estimates of life-expectancy with their patients.
A survey of almost 22,000 admitted patients at the University of Chicago Medical Center found patient preference to participate in decision making concerning their care was associated with a longer length of stay and higher total hospitalization costs, according to a report published online by JAMA Internal Medicine.
In a research letter, Harlan M. Krumholz, M.D., S.M., from Yale University School of Medicine and colleagues, "sought to investigate preferences for participation in the decision-making process among individuals hospitalized with an acute myocardial infarction ([AMI] or heart attack)." The researchers combined data from two similar AMI registries (TRIUMPH and PREMIER) which resulted in 6,636 patients in the study sample who were asked about who should make decisions on treatment options.
Following modification of drug enforcement laws for possession of marijuana in Colorado, there was an apparent increase in unintentional marijuana ingestions by young children, according to a report and accompanying editorials published Online First by JAMA Pediatrics, a JAMA Network publication.
Lisbon, 27 May 2013: Ambulatory levosimendan improves event free survival by 50% compared to placebo, according to results from the LevoRep Study presented today during the late breaking trial session1 of the Heart Failure Congress 2013. In a second study, the third generation mineralocorticoid receptor antagonist (MRA) BAY 94-8862 showed improved potassium and kidney tolerance in heart failure patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).
Lisbon, 26 May 2013: Serelaxin may be more effective for relieving dyspnea in heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) than reduced (HFrEF) during the first 24 hours, according to results from RELAX-AHF presented in today's late breaking trial session1 at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. Results were also presented from VIVIDD, the first trial of the anti-diabetes drug vildagliptin in patients with heart failure.
Lisbon, 25 May 2013: Mortality and length of stay are highest in heart failure patients admitted in January, on Friday, and overnight, according to research presented today at the Heart Failure Congress 2013. The analysis of nearly 1 million heart failure admissions over 14 years was presented by Dr David P. Kao (Denver, Colorado).
The Heart Failure Congress 2013 is taking place during 25-28 May in Lisbon, Portugal. The Congress is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (1).
Lisbon, 25 May 2013: Coenzyme Q10 decreases all cause mortality by half, according to the results of a multicentre randomised double blind trial presented today at Heart Failure 2013 congress. It is the first drug to improve heart failure mortality in over a decade and should be added to standard treatment, according to lead author Professor Svend Aage Mortensen (Copenhagen, Denmark).
Heart Failure 2013 is being held from 25-28 May in Lisbon, Portugal. It is the main annual meeting of the Heart Failure Association of the European Society of Cardiology (1).
23 May 2013, Paris, France: Routinely measuring fractional flow reserve (FFR) using pressure wire assessment during coronary angiography for diagnosis of chest pain leads to significant changes in the management of one in four patients, according to results from a study reported at EuroPCR 2013.
23 May 2013, Paris, France: A new investigational device - the Helio System (TF-FA) - being developed for use with the Sapien XT Transcatheter Heart Valve was successfully deployed in all four patients in a small, first-in-human feasibility study of its use in high-risk aortic insufficiency reported at EuroPCR 2013.
23 May 2013, Paris, France: Transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) is effective and safe in Asian patients, according to early experience based on first results from a multicentre Asian registry reported at EuroPCR 2013.
New Orleans, LA – After studying noise in one French Quarter neighborhood of New Orleans to determine whether or not noise levels exceeded municipal ordinances, Annette Hurley, PhD, Assistant Professor of Audiology at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and Eric Arriaga, a third-year LSUHSC doctor of audiology student, recommend that people use today's technology to protect their own hearing health. Their case study is published online in the current issue of Advance for Hearing Practice Management.