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May 2009
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Volume 3, Issue 8
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InforMed Society
Offical E-Newsletter of the Medical Society
Keeping you InforMed about the latest health care news!
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From the President
Brian R. Riveland, MD
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The patient's medical record has changed dramatically over
the last many years. There was a time
that the medical record had a fairly simple function. It served as the guide to what the patient
was experiencing, the diagnosis, and to document the treatment and plan for
further care. In its ideal form, it
clearly represented what was done and served as a communication tool to others
involved in the patients care. This no
longer seems to be its primary function.
I recall one of the most useful areas of the patient chart
in the hospital was the hand written nurses notes of what happened since the
last time I saw the patient. There was
real clinical information there. However
when our hospital switched to computerized nursing documentation, the value for
me as a clinician was taken away. I am
now seeing that happen with physician notes and consults as more and more are
moving to electronic health records. Read more... |
Swine Influenza Information
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The human swine flu outbreak continues to grow in the United States and
internationally. Today, CDC reports additional cases of confirmed swine
influenza and a number of hospitalizations of swine flu patients.
Internationally, the situation is more serious too, with additional
countries reporting confirmed cases of swine flu.
In response to the
intensifying outbreak, the World Health Organization raised the
worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 4.
A Phase 4 alert is characterized by confirmed person-to-person spread
of a new influenza virus able to cause "community-level" outbreaks."
The increase in the pandemic alert phase indicates that the likelihood
of a pandemic has increased.
Please visit www.cdc.gov for more information
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Senate votes to ease AHCCCS restrictions |
State senators voted Wednesday to ease restrictions on free health
care despite claims by some lawmakers it amounted to giving welfare to
those who don't deserve it.
The 24-4 vote on
SB1102 would spell out that those who are single and without dependents
need to prove only once a year that they remain eligible. It would
repeal a year-old law that requires new proof every six months.
Wednesday's change was not made willingly, even by those who voted
for the measure. But they said it was a simple question of math:
Whatever the state saves by getting people off the rolls of the Arizona
Health Care Cost Containment System is eclipsed by the $1.6 billion the
state would lose in federal health care stimulus dollars without the
change.
"It would be irresponsible not to do this," said Sen. Barbara Leff, R-Paradise Valley.
On a separate 27-1 vote, senators also approved SB1322, which makes
jobless Arizonans eligible for an extra 13 weeks of unemployment
benefits. Funding for that, like the AHCCCS cash, also is coming from
the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act signed into law in February
by President Barack Obama.
Read complete article...
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Details now emerging about cuts to Medicare private plans |
Medicare private plans that for years have received
annual pay increases are set to sustain sizeable reductions in 2010
under cost estimates recently released by the Obama administration.
In an April 6 directive to Medicare Advantage plans, the Centers for
Medicare & Medicaid Services updated plan payment information that
it first released in February. The National Per Capita Medicare
Advantage Growth Percentage -- an estimation of how much more the
program will need to spend on all beneficiaries -- will be 0.81% for
2010.
Read more...
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If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader.
John Quincy Adams
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Featured Business
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In addition to PSV services, provided by a stable,
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NCQA and JCAHO standards are the basis for our verification
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needs
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602.256.0705
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NIDA launches drug use screening tools for physicians
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The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), part of the National
Institutes of Health, today unveiled its first comprehensive
Physicians' Outreach Initiative, NIDAMED, which gives medical
professionals tools and resources to screen their patients for tobacco,
alcohol, illicit, and nonmedical prescription drug use. The NIDAMED
resources include an online screening tool, a companion quick reference
guide, and a comprehensive resource guide for clinicians. The
initiative stresses the importance of the patient-doctor relationship
in identifying unhealthy behaviors before they evolve into life
threatening conditions.
The NIDAMED tools - targeting primary care clinicians - were
launched at a news conference at the National Press Club that featured
NIDA Director Dr. Nora D. Volkow, Acting Director of the Office of
National Drug Control Policy Ed Jurith, J.D., Sen. Carl Levin of
Michigan, Acting Surgeon General Steven K. Galson, M.D., and
representatives from the World Health Organization, the American
Medical Association, and other organizations committed to helping
patients who struggle with drug-related medical issues. Read complete article... |
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Forced out of retirement: Getting back into practice not always easy |
At age 70, Kirtikumar Shah, MD, is back in the job
market. Dr. Shah retired in 2004 and doesn't especially want to go back
to work. But the gastroenterologist/internist from Houston has little
choice.
Heavy losses to his investments have left him short on cash. "My
wife and I are not extravagant people. Still, the 2008 stock losses
destroyed all our plans," Dr. Shah said. "I have to go back to work."
Many other retired physicians, who also thought they had their
finances in order, are joining the job hunt after the recent market
meltdown.
Read more...
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AACR 2009: Genetic variant associated with aggressive Prostate Cancer |
One of the biggest issues in prostate cancer is differentiating
between men who have aggressive tumors that could be fatal and men who
have indolent tumors that might never become clinically significant.
Researchers reporting a new genetic variant associated with
aggressive prostate cancer say it could be useful in differentiating
between these 2 groups of patients. The finding was reported here at
the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) 100th Annual
Meeting in a poster that won an AACR Highly Rated award.
The genetic variant is detected from a blood sample, and it shows a
person's predisposition to aggressive prostate cancer, lead author John
Wittle, PhD, from the Institute of Human Genetics at the University of
California at San Francisco, told Medscape Oncology.
Read on...
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IOM studies boost in vitamin D requirements |
Vitamin D's star is on the rise and physicians who have studied it say it's about time.
Recent research has found that higher D levels are beneficial in
fighting ills ranging from colds to cancer. And, on March 26, the
Institute of Medicine's Food and Nutrition Board began reviewing those
studies and many others with an eye to revising the recommended dietary
intake of vitamin D and its close companion in maintaining bone health
-- calcium. A report is expected within two years.
Vitamin D has long been recognized as essential to promoting calcium
absorption to allow for bone growth and remodeling. Now, its role in
health maintenance is expanding in other directions. Some researchers
say if we dramatically increase amounts either absorbed from the sun,
or ingested in supplements or fortified foods, a corresponding drop
could occur in many rapidly proliferating illnesses, including diabetes
and cardiovascular disease.
More information...
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FDA safety changes: Comtan, Stalevo, Tasmar, Symmetrel, Xenical, Casodex |
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved safety labeling
revisions to advise of the risk for uncontrollable urges in patients
with Parkinson's disease receiving treatment with drugs that increase
central dopaminergic tone, the potential increased risk for melanoma in
patients with Parkinson's disease, drug interactions between orlistat
and levothyroxine, and the potential for decreased glucose tolerance in
patients receiving luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone therapy in
combination with bicalutamide for metastatic prostate cancer.
Read complete article...
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Purchasing & Assistance Collaborative for
Electronic Health Records (PACeHR) program |
The Purchasing &
Assistance Collaborative for Electronic Health Records (PACeHR) vision is that every Arizona practice will
have access to an affordable, interoperable, CCHIT-certified, web-based
electronic health records solution, including support and related products and
services. PACeHR's strategy is to leverage web-based technologies, economies
of scale, aligned metrics and strategic partnering to foster EHR adoption band
information sharing by focusing on the needs of small and medium-sized practices.
On April 1,
the PACeHR Evaluation Panel met to
refine the selection process for PACeHR's
first offering, a web-based EHR vendor(s).
The PACeHR Evaluation Panel consists of 20 volunteer representatives
from diverse stakeholders, including primary and specialty clinicians, subject
matter experts in information technology (IT), administration, law and biomedical
informatics. Panel members include clinicians
representing Arizona's major healthcare professional organizations.
On
Thursday, April 30 and Friday, May 1, 2009, interested clinicians and
stakeholders have the opportunity to attend the PACeHR Finalist Demonstrations.
These sessions will take place at Health Services Advisory Group (HSAG),
1600 E. Northern Ave., Phoenix, Arizona. You can register for one or both days by
visiting www.azamie.gov or www.azhec.org.
For
additional PACeHR information, please call 602-417-6909. Thank you!
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 Maricopa
County Medical
Society 326 E. Coronado Road Phoenix, AZ
85004
Serving medicine, serving the community
since
1892...
InforMed
Society is published by the Maricopa County
Medical Society.
Copyright
© 2009
Questions
or Comments, please email us at: InforMed@mcmsonline.com |
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