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Dental HMO leaks personal information to website

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:59:55 -0400

Here we go again! As reported by the Baltimore Sun, a CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield dental HMO accidentally leaked personal information--including Social Security numbers--of around 75,000 patients on a public website in February, failing to inform them of the gaffe for three weeks. While the company claims none of the information has been misused, it also has offered members 12 months of free credit monitoring, and information to contact credit bureaus for fraud alert purposes. Still, this is the second time in two months that this sort of thing has happened. What has to happen for these sorts of mistakes to cease?

For more information:
- read the Baltimore Sun's article

U of Pittsburgh tries ED donor organ program

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:59:54 -0400

The University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine's hospital plans to kick off a unique program which would attempt to do better at obtaining donor organs from patients who can't be revived. Under the program, to be named Condition T, if patients can't be revived, doctors would contact the local organ recovery organization to see whether the patient was a registered donor. If so, the patient's family would be notified, then a team of professionals other than those attempting the resuscitation would recover the organs.

The program will begin by focusing on recovering livers and kidneys, organs for which there is the longest waiting list nationally. Officials have estimated that such a program could make 40 additional kidneys and 20 additional livers available each year.

To learn more about Condition T:
- read this Pittsburgh Post-Gazette piece

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It's the price, stupid

Fri, 17 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Given the lower prices and high quality care available outside of the U.S., is anybody surprised by medical tourism's growth? Probably not. The real question is what should we do about it.

OK, I know I'm going to get some angry mail here, but why not just lower our prices by a substantial margin? Can we make that work if people are showing up daily with cash money to get important procedures done? I say, yes we can.

Let's look at how the market is shaping up. While his experience may not be unique, one medical tourism company CEO operating in Thailand tells me that pricing is a tremendous issue, if not the only issue, in why patients contact him. In other words, while his videos pitch the high-end amenities his tourists get, including high-gloss hotels and transportation, nice weather and the like, what people are into is the bottom line. Some customers are so price-sensitive, in fact, they go around him when they arrive just to avoid fees of about $200, the CEO says.

So what if the provider industry in the U.S. took a cue from this and rather than just posting prices, actually lowered them significantly? I'm not talking about charging patients the rates insurance companies get--which are actually still high compared with many foreign venues--but offering whopping discounts of, say, 70 percent to those who pay in cash on the day of the procedure or service. (I don't now if that number per se would work--you have your own spreadsheets--but you catch my drift.)

I'm not a big fan of CDHPs, but I do realize this is the effect they're trying to accomplish. The thing is, they're just a vehicle employers and the insurance industry are using to try and force down prices, which won't work. Providers who won't go low enough on pricing are using them until get a better trade off. And I think doing a lot more cash business could be just the ticket to make everyone happy. -Anne

Giving providers a patient's perspective

Tue, 17 Jul 2007 06:59:54 -0400

A New England-based foundation is offering a growing list of providers a new perspective by setting up meetings exposing clinicians to patients' stories of their healthcare experiences. The "Rounds Program" is sponsored by the Kenneth B. Schwartz Center, which was founded by a health attorney who died of lung cancer in 1995. The program brings patients to speak to groups of healthcare professionals about their contact with the healthcare system, giving even seasoned pros a perspective they'd seldom gotten in the past.

In the more than 10 years since the center's founding, the Rounds Program has traveled to 110 sites in 26 states, reaching about 26,000 medical professionals. Topics have included everything from breaking bad news to a family to coping with the death of a child. These programs are growing in popularity, attracting everyone from orderlies to PhDs, say Schwartz Center staff.

To find out more about these programs:
- read this piece from The Boston Globe

Related Articles:
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Non-hospital MRSA more dangerous

Thu, 05 Jul 2007 20:01:37 -0400

While hospital-acquired methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are nasty, a new MRSA strain emerging outside of hospitals is proving to be even more lethal. This newer MRSA strain, community-associated MRSA, is often spread in prisons and on athletic teams , both of which bring people into close physical contact and involve sharing personal items like towels, soap or even water, says Richard Wenzel, president of the International Society for Infectious Disease. What really ought to worry healthcare professionals is that this deadlier MRSA strain has begun to spread into hospitals, Wenzel warns. Fortunately, simple expedients like hand-washing can cut the spread of MRSA within a hospital substantially--as 85 percent of infections are spread from patient to patient by healthcare workers--and isolating known MRSA patients helps too, Wenzel notes.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this United Press International piece

Related Articles:
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When healthcare providers spread infections

Wed, 04 Jul 2007 20:01:34 -0400

Particularly when it comes to surgeons, who are particularly at risk for nicks and cuts, providers may pose more of a infection-control risk than previously thought. Because viruses like hepatitis B and C and HIV are spread by blood-to-blood contact, healthcare workers are more at risk than the general population, given their more-frequent contact with bodily fluids. And since there are no laws requiring surgeons to be tested for blood-borne viruses--not to mention that infected healthcare workers generally aren't barred from practicing medicine--the risk a provider will pass along an infection mounts.

CDC officials say despite the infection hazards faced by clinicians, the risk of their transmitting nasty bugs like hep B, C or HIV is "very, very" remote, in part because healthcare providers usually get hep B vaccinations. Still, at least in New York, public officials have investigated at least two cases where clinicians may have infected their patients with hepatitis.

To get more background on this issue:
- read this piece in The New York Times

Related Article:
Prison hepatitis C poised to infect U.S. Report

NYC doctor may have given patients Hep C

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 20:01:36 -0400

There's a hepatitis C scare on in New York City, where authorities have asked 4,500 people to get tested after their contact with a local anesthesiologist. The anesthesiologist, who hasn't been named, may have spread the disease as he or she put patients under. To date, three people treated by the physician have been diagnosed with hep C. Tests suggest that the patients picked up the illness while getting intravenous anesthesia meds during outpatient procedures. However, it's not clear whether the physician is at fault--the unnamed anesthesiologist has had a medical license since 1977 and has no known history of poor infection control.

To get more information on the infection scare:
- read this Associated Press article

The emergence of the hospital concierge

Thu, 31 May 2007 20:01:39 -0400

Search Google for the term "hospital concierge service" and you'll be flooded with links to such programs. Over the past couple of years, a growing number of hospitals have been running with the concept, borrowed from the hotel industry, under which consumers get a helping hand with the logistics of their visit.

Take USC University Hospital's concierge desk, which helps patients arrange hotels or long-term housing, transportation to and from airports, car rentals, business services, personal care services like spa and hairdressing appointments and even help with tourism and entertainment.

Particularly for facilities that get a lot of out-of-town visitors, having at least a small concierge staff makes a great deal of sense. After all, they share many of a hotel's logistical problems--large facility, complex services, often-disoriented visitors away from home--and increasingly, are focused on giving patients a hotel-style feeling of comfort as well. What's more, if hospitals don't want to train and staff this function, they can hire outsiders like the Corporate Health Group to plan and implement a concierge program.

Right now, concierge desks focused entirely on hotel-like supports. As a next step, what if concierge desks also included a skilled staff member capable of helping patients understand insurance issues? Right now, most patients interact only with a bored, low-skilled registration desk worker with little incentive to offer warm fuzzies to patients or spend a lot of time on education. In the future, as more patients cope with high-deductible plans, having a chance to discuss fees and benefits with a trained, sympathetic contact could to much to help patients feel in control.

Ultimately, there's little doubt that hospitals benefit when patients are comfortable and calm--so why not be creative with your concierge desk? At the moment, hospitals may think of this function as a nice add-on, but in the future, I'd argue, they should grow to more of an information hub complete with Internet stations, clinical literature, toys for kids and more. The key is to put yourself in the patient's shoes. Next time you're overwhelmed by your own contacts with the health system, you may want to take a few notes. - Anne

CMS may target 'inefficient' doctors

Sun, 13 May 2007 20:01:38 -0400

Adding yet another wrinkle to the agency's complex relationship with doctors, CMS may begin profiling physicians and targeting those it deems inefficient sometime next year. Herbert Kuhn, acting deputy administrator of CMS, told a House subcommittee that the agency will have the data and computer capacity available to do the tracking as soon as mid-2008. To monitor efficiency, CMS would compare levels of tests physicians order for certain types of patients to tests ordered by other doctors who achieve similar outcomes. The agency would then contact the physicians whose testing patterns seem to be out of line. Kuhn told the subcommittee that his largest concern was figuring out how to use the data to help physicians grow more efficient. To date, the agency hasn't established plans to link efficiency measures with reimbursement changes. If it wants to do so, Congress would probably have to enact new legislation, policymakers said.

To learn more about this initiative:
- read this Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report piece

Related Articles:
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Physician practice efficiency models examined. Report

Doctors making house calls--online

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 19:01:34 -0500

Rising healthcare costs, less contact with physicians, longer wait times--all of these are the frustrating realities for patients dealing with our healthcare system. But the American Academy of Family Physicians' TransforMED project is hoping the cure these problems using a program that allows patients to have virtual checkups online. Thirty-six physicians have been selected to participate in a pilot program that will run for two years. Billed as the "house call of the future," the TransforMED program will offer a variety of physician services, including "same-day scheduling even for checkups and new medical know-how like group support sessions for people with chronic diseases."

For more on the TransforMED program:
- check out this article from The Charlotte Observer