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Texas CKD Task Force Ranks Priorities
January 2009 report emphasizes data, prevention and treatment
The Texas Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force has issued "Addressing Chronic Kidney Disease in Texas," [37pp, 1.2mb PDF]. The report details the committee's recommendations to increase awareness and education of health care providers, patients and the public on the importance of early detection, diagnosis and treatment of CKD and ESRD.
Recognizing the significant burden of CKD and ESRD in Texas, the 80th Texas Legislature enacted legislation that established the Chronic Kidney Disease Task Force, a team of experts in the fields of nephrology, family medicine, pediatrics, dietetics, transplantation, education and state government. Members were appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and the Speaker of the House. National and state kidney organizations are also represented on the committee.
ESRD NW Hosts Dinner Symposium Discussing AV Fistula Creation and Catheter Reduction
Register now for Feb. 20 event in Dallas
This session will show nephrologists how to promote arteriovenous (AV) fistula creation and catheter reduction as the vascular access multidisciplinary team leader. Discussion is centered on practical solutions that can be used immediately for everyday vascular access problems such as obesity, ischemia, late referral and primary AVF failure. Download a registration flyer >>
Researchers Develop Simple Model and Questionnaire for Predicting CKD
A short questionnaire can assess risk
To better identify those at increased risk for potentially undiagnosed CKD, a team of public health and medical researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill performed the first study of its kind to develop a tool to identify patients who are most at risk for CKD. (The simple questionnaire is available in the full story.)
CKD in the Minority Community
Education and screening can achieve better outcomes
How can we reduce the high rate of kidney disease among minorities? Experts have decided to focus on education, prevention and early treatment. The key to education is to make information readable and sensitive to the culture and background of people. The key to prevention and early treatment is to screen and identify persons at risk.
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Widespread EHR Adoption Could Increase Evidence-Based Medicine
Databases could make medicine more science, less art
Widespread electronic health record adoption might significantly increase evidence-based medicine, the New York Times reports. The article is part of an occasional Times series called "The Evidence Gap."
According to the Times, "Each patient's records adds to a real-time, ever-growing database of evidence showing what works and what does not" that could allow physicians to "harness health information from individuals and populations, share it across networks, sift it and analyze it to make the practice of medicine more of a science and less an art."
HIMSS Austin Event Garners Support for HIT
Capitol forum highlights investment value for Texas
Health care information technology experts met in the Texas Capitol in Austin on January 27 to share with the public and lawmakers the value of investing in health IT (HIT) and how that investment translates into reduced costs and improved health care quality for Texans.
Representatives from Texas chapters of the Health Information Management System Society, or HIMSS, sponsored a forum in the Capitol Auditorium to showcase real-life examples of savings HIT has provided in the Lone Star State, including how electronic health records have aided the disaster recovery efforts of Galveston's UT Medical Branch, which was in Hurricane Ike's path last fall. Other topic areas discussed were how tele-medicine delivers health care to underserved regions of Texas and how hospitals use computerized physician order entry, or CPOE, to reduce medical errors and improve quality of care.
Health IT and Health Reform
HIT-enabled benchmarking technology could change medicine
Few innovations in technology have greater potential to transform medicine more than health information technology (HIT)-enabled benchmarking.
Large medical databases coupled with electronically submitted information from disparate sources and powerful analytics tools have the potential to allow us to compile and compare benchmarks across our health care enterprise.
Understanding the full potential of these new tools is critical for health care policymakers. What are the benefits, implications and policy options that present themselves regarding the integration of modern HIT-enabled data gathering and modern analysis tools into the health care system? This white paper [7pp, 160kb PDF] summarizes some of them and offers possible next steps. |
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