April 2010
Association between Hospital Cost of Care and Quality of Care and Readmission Rates
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 10:49am
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- 1812 reads
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) routinely reports on >30 quality-of-care measures at all hospitals in the United States. To encourage patients to seek low-cost providers, as of August 2008, the CMS reports were expanded to include data about cost of care for common conditions. Likewise, in the private sector, payers often focus on tiered payment networks that encourage patients to choose hospitals with low costs and high quality of care.
To date, it is unclear whether efforts to reduce hospital costs will have adverse effects on the level of the quality
General Practitioners Do Not Adhere to Clinical Guidelines when Treating Low Back Pain
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 11:27am
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- 725 reads
General practitioners are not following international evidence-based guidelines when treating patients presenting with new cases of low back pain, according to results of a recent study [Arch Intern Med. 2010;170:271-277].
Evidence has shown that clinical practice guidelines are both cost-effective and time-efficient when physicians base their treatment of low back pain upon them. Researchers recently conducted a study to examine how closely general practitioners in Australia follow guidelines when they treat patients with acute low back pain. They also sought to find an
Novel Oral Anticoagulant May Be Alternative to Warfarin in AF
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 11:38am
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- 1174 reads
Atlanta—Betrixaban, an investigational oral factor Xa inhibitor, was safe and well tolerated, with a similar or lower risk of major bleeding compared with warfarin in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (AF) or atrial flutter who were at risk for stroke.
“In the diverse patient population included in our study, a dose- and concentration-dependent effect of betrixaban was observed on the primary end point of major and clinically relevant nonmajor bleeding,” said Michael D. Ezekowitz, MD, vice president of the Lankenau I
Treating Psoriasis with Biologic Agents
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 11:42am
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- 1282 reads
Miami Beach—According to a consensus statement by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD), biologic agents may be considered among the options for first-line treatment, along with systemic therapies or phototherapy, for patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis as well as patients with psoriasis that affect various parts of the body or when ≥5% of the skin surface is involved. Despite this recommendation, a National Psoriasis Foundation survey published in 2007 found that patients with moderate-to-severe psoriasis are
Literature-Based Genetic Risk Scores and Cardiovascular Disease Events in Women
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 11:57am
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- 562 reads
Risk prevention in cardiovascular disease (CVD) has improved in recent years as genomewide association studies have found possible genetic and molecular markers (especially those in the 9p21 region) that are directly associated with CVD. But the aggregate effect of these possible breakthroughs has not yet been determined. This is particularly the case among women. Clinicians have proposed a multilocus genetic risk score to capture the complex relationship between genetics and CVD.
The objective of this prospective cohort study [JAMA. 2010;303(7):631-637] was to test the predictive abi
Product News
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 12:07pm
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- 669 reads
FDA News
Injection Treats Small Varicose Veins
The FDA has approved polidocanol (Asclera) injection for the treatment of small types of abnormally swollen or twisted veins called varicose veins. Polid-
ocanol is distributed by BioForm Medical Inc and manufactured by Chemische Fabrik Kreussler & Co.
The product is approved to close spider veins (tiny varicose veins <1 mm in diameter) and reticular veins (those that are 1-3 mm in diameter). Polidocanol acts by damaging the cell lining of blood vessels. This causes the bl
Insurers Prepare for Market Reforms
- Wed, 5/5/10 - 9:53am
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- 1160 reads
Challenges Include Cost Concerns, Legal Disputes
Despite bipartisan opposition in Congress and failure to win support of a majority of the public during months of debate, federal lawmakers were able to enact a comprehensive reform bill that creates new ground rules for the health insurance industry. The market reforms will improve access for millions of Americans who previously could not afford or qualify for enrollment in a health plan, but employers and insurers are warning about the lack of cost controls and the expense of new insurance mandates. Compounding the challenges of
