The Health Care Blog – Page 384 – Everything you always wanted to know about the Health Care system. But were afraid to ask.

Above the Fold

Zika and Correlation vs. Causation

Feb 8, 2016

BY JOHN SCHUMANN

Last week I told you of my admiration for Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, the Michigan pediatrician and epidemiologist whose strong research and advocacy was able to finally bring a shining light to the problem of lead in the water supply of Flint.

Continuing with a theme, I now bring you the story of Dr. Adriana Melo of Campina Grande, Brazil.

Dr. Melo is an OB-GYN who subspecializes in Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM), the branch of obstetrics that deals with high-risk pregnancies.

She lives and works in northeast Brazil, which is less populous and more economically challenged than the southern, more well-known parts of the country (including Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo).

Dr. Melo noted an uptick in the number of fetuses with small heads on ultrasound — which is the main tool used by MFM doctors to diagnose babies in utero.

How much of an uptick? A rough look at the statistics shows ONE HUNDRED times the ‘normal’ rate of babies born with microcephaly, the medical name for the condition.

Dr. Melo had a suspicion that the mothers giving birth to these babies all had a common trait: they’d all told her that they’d had the characteristic rash associated with the mosquito-borne Zika virus.

Can the Exchanges Be Saved?

Feb 6, 2016• 3

By MICHAEL TURPIN

Michael Turpin 1 “The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails.” —William Arthur Ward

Looking confidently past the skeletons of drowned state and federal healthcare experiments, America’s health insurance exchanges set sail in January 2014. Disregarding the rough seas ahead, healthcare reform pundits and legislators applauded the Affordable Care Act’s signature public expansion vehicle as an impenetrable solution for achieving affordable coverage and competition.

Less than two years later, the exchanges are taking on water.

In November, United Healthcare lowered earnings projections, a move driven primarily by its hesitancy to commit to enrolling new exchange members until risks are better understood. While other insurers were quick to reassure investors that the public exchange market remains a viable means for organic growth, a low-pressure system of doubt is already building over the nascent public exchanges.

Initial enrollment projections for 2016 are fewer than 10 million members—about half of the 20 million target estimated by the Congressional Budget Office. In their rush to expand coverage to the uninsured and under insured, many public officials and industry neophytes failed to consult with those who have firsthand experience with the difficulties of underwriting those who are obtaining insurance for the first time.

FAST FOCUS

Enrollment projections for 2016 are fewer than 10 million members—about half the Congressional Budget Office target of 20 million.
The rush to participate in public exchanges has attracted inexperienced players seeking a piece of a $300 billion premium opportunity.
Investors want desperately to believe healthcare is ripe for transformational disruption.

Interoperability Form and Function: Interview with Doug Fridsma

Feb 6, 2016• 8

By LEONARD KISH

Screen Shot 2016-02-02 at 4.02.03 PM Leonard Kish talks to Douglas Fridsma, President and CEO at American Medical Informatics Association, about his work in the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, or ONC, and the barriers to implementing MIPS in the most useful and transparent way. In order to communicate the data, of course, we’ll need informatics; but how will that work? And which comes first, policy or technology?

Leonard Kish: When you first began your studies in medical informatics, was there a sense that the field was a science?

Doug Fridsma: After working on the Standards of Interoperability Framework for the National Cancer Institute – which was essentially crowdsourced, I engaged government, research and other pharmaceutical companies and standards organizations to basically come up with what that standard should be – I had an opportunity to go out to the University of Arizona and ASU. Ted Shortliffe, who had been my mentor at Stanford, had just been appointed to be the Dean of the new medical school at the University of Arizona.

Nominate a Speaker For TEDMED

Feb 6, 2016

By JOHN IRVINE

Neeti writes:

I am on the 2016 TEDMED speaker review committee/research scholar i.e. I am among the group of people who will be reviewing potential speakers for this year’s event.

If you know someone (does not have to be an MD or PhD) who is doing great work in medicine, public health and policy or education (any aspect of healthcare including basic science research) and would be interested in giving such a talk, please nominate them here. It is a short form which needs their bio and pitch for a talk, also a speaking sample in public domain (i.e. YouTube or Vimeo) if available but not a necessity.

A little background about their nomination process: “There is no deadline to nominate a speaker, and we accept nominations year-round. Typically, we consider about 10,000 nominations for about ~50 spots on our stage, and are nearly done with the speaker selection process for this year. However, if we receive your nomination after we have completed the selection process, we will keep it in our database for future years.”

Biden’s Moon Shot and the 21st Century Cures Bill

Feb 6, 2016• 2

By STEVE FINDLAY

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Lawmakers in Washington are gearing up to pass major, far-reaching legislation on drug approval and cancer research. This is a good thing in the main but—no surprise here—Republicans and Democrats differ on approach and details, and things are already getting messy.

This makes the proposed legislation very risky. It could all implode in an election year, but momentum is building fast and both parties have something to gain by passage.

This blog is a primer on what’s happening. Future posts will track the legislation’s progress and delve into some of the issues at stake. Comments are invited.

The Secrets of Cancer Survivors

Feb 6, 2016• 5

By JAMES SALWITZ, MD

Disclaimer: I have never had cancer. Therefore, at the most basic level, I do not have the right to pontificate about dealing with the dread disease.

Rather, I have been the servant and support of those that struggle with cancer. I thought it might be of some assistance to share my observations from the other side of the bed rail. Perhaps, their secrets of survival may help you.

1. Cancer is a team sport; do not do this alone. Never show up to an important appointment by yourself. You are dealing with a physical impairment, as well as a complex mental challenge, at the same time that you are frightened and do not feel well. Have someone with you to listen, ask, take notes and simply carry your things. This is true not only during treatment, but at home. Accept support. Build a team. Work together to fight this awful thing.

2. In the same way, whether you like it or not, a family goes through this together. Those that love you, also “get cancer.” Working together helps everyone deal with the affects of the disease. You are not a burden. You reap what you sow.

3. Nonetheless, it is also important to get time for yourself. You need grounding time; quiet moments to heal. Take a deep breath; rebuild. If your family does not understand the importance of “me time,” show them this note.

4. Be on time for your appointments, tests and treatments. This is my own hang-up, but being on time is part of being organized and I have noted that the patients that are punctual are organized and those that are organized do better.

5. Be whiney. Really, complain a lot. Tell your doctors what is happening. Take notes. Email. Call. Will the doctor give you his cell number? Do not ignore a fever for five days, crawl into the doctor’s office, and say, “By the way, I feel terrible.” That will result in the doctor saying, “By the way, time to go to the hospital.” This is why women make better patients then men; malignant macho.

David Vivero, Amino– Yes, We Need Another Doctor Search Company!

Feb 5, 2016• 1

By MATTHEW HOLT

Those of you dismayed at the dearth of recent interviews of notable health tech startups on THCB will be glad to hear I have several in the can and will be putting them up starting with Amino today. And the rest of you can move along….

David Vivero made his money at a company matching renters to apartments that ended up part of Zillow. That was too easy, so now he’s decided to match people up with the right doctor. Amino came out of stealth late last year with about $20m in funding and it has acquired large data sets (including being one of the few with official access to all CMS physician data) and some complex ways to match patients to doctors–the primary one being doctors near you that have seen a lot of patients like you. Why are they in a market that already has several well known & well funded players like Vitals, Healthgrades, Better Doctor and more? David told me that and more in this interview.

Physician Burnout is an Epidemic

Feb 5, 2016• 4

By ANEES CHAGPAR, MD

There is a disease sweeping the nation that has significant consequences for every person living in this country, even if they never contract it directly. And despite its lethality, there is precious little being done about it. It’s called physician burnout, and it affects all of us.

Doctors, on average, spend at least eight years in college, followed by years of postgraduate training during which time they work 80 hours a week. They graduate with a mountain of debt, face the constant fear of malpractice litigation, and are burdened by incessant demands to see more patients in less time with more administrative paperwork. On top of which, there’s compassion fatigue – helping the sick, the injured and the dying is rewarding no doubt, but often emotionally draining. All of this leads to physician burnout.

More than any other profession, doctors face burnout, and the rates have been increasing. A recent study by researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that the number of physicians suffering from burnout is 54%, up from 45% in 2011. And physicians are more than twice as likely to commit suicide than non-physicians; every year, 400 doctors in this country take their own lives.

Why should you care? Because the emotional health of doctors has a direct effect on the broader public. There are a plethora of stories of physicians who describe the chilling consequences of their depression. One surgeon wrote in a recent blog, “my depression…was exacerbated by work. I clearly wasn’t performing to the best of my abilities, and my patient complications and complaints were increasing. A patient died from a post-operative bleed. Would I have managed it better if I wasn’t suffering myself? (When I spoke to the patient’s wife, as he lay dying 20 feet away, she asked me if I was OK.)” Burnout causes a lack of clarity in thinking leading to medical mistakes. “Given the extensive evidence that burnout among physicians has effects on quality of care, patient satisfaction, turnover, and patient safety, these findings have important implications for society at large,” researchers from Mayo Clinic told Forbes.

The Search for the Elusive Elixir of Life

Feb 4, 2016• 17

By TOM EMERICK

flying cadeucii Here’s the executive summary: Most disease and health spending is age-related. As we age we get infirmities ranging from dementia to cancer to vascular disease. Nothing can prevent aging. Period. For millennia mankind has been been on a futile search to prevent aging.

Search for the Elusive Elixir of Life

For 3500 or more years mankind has been searching for the mythological Elixir of Life, the fountain of youth, the philosophers stone, pool of nectar, etc, that will defeat aging and extend life, if not achieve immortality.

According to Wiki, “The elixir of life, also known as the elixir of immortality and sometimes equated with the philosopher’s stone, is a mythical potion that, when drunk from a certain cup at a certain time, supposedly grants the drinker eternal life and/or eternal youth.”

All around the globe from 400 BCE alchemists, from India to China to Europe, were seeking the elixir of life. Many thought gold was an essential ingredient of such an elixir.

The Fountain of Youth, also known as the water of life, was part of the search for the elixir of life. That search was in full throttle during the crusades, and was carried to the New World by Spanish explorers, the most famous of whom was Ponce De Leon in the 1500’s. Even the Mayans had legends about waters of eternal youth.

Gawande, Frankl, and Why “Less Is More” Is More of the Same

Feb 3, 2016• 4

By MICHEL ACCAD, MD

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My last post was prompted by a reader’s comment where Victor Frankl’s Man’s Search for Meaning and Atul Gawande’s Being Mortal were juxtaposed. Since receiving that message, I have had occasion to notice that others also associate these two books.

For example, both are mentioned positively in this moving article by Dr. Clare Luz about a friend’s suicide, and in these tweets from Dr. Paddy Barrett’s podcast program:

Friends and patients of mine have likewise mentioned these two works to me, expressing praise and testifying to the deep impact the books have had on them.

I suspect that many readers of this blog will at least be familiar with these two books. If not, summaries are here (Frankl) and here (Gawande).