Nursefriendly.com: Annual Healthcare Costs

Showing posts with label Annual Healthcare Costs. Show all posts

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

Report: Americans Give Online Thumbs Down To #healthinsurers – Capsules - The KHN Blog #healthcare #hcsm #mdchat #rnchat

By Christian Torres
October 3rd, 2011, 6:02 AM
Americans’ dislike for health insurers is a trending topic.
Seventy percent of social media comments about major health insurers were negative during the past year, according to a new report released by Amplicate, a social media analytics service. The company analyzed public tweets, Facebook posts and comments on its own website between September 2010 and August 2011. Social media users made 2,311 comments total about 18 insurers, and those opinions were shared more than 632,000 times. Insurers aren’t alone, and they aren’t the most talked about: In the past year, U.S airlines generated over 34,000 comments and U.S. banks had nearly 22,000 comments.

via capsules.kaiserhealthnews.org

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InspirationalNursing.com:"InspirationalNursing.com. Touching Poems, and Inspiring stories that touch the heart and occasionally bring a tear to your eye. Affection, Ambition, Angels In Our Lives, Animals, Babies, Bereavement, Caring, Caring, Children, Christian Stories, Christmas, Computers & The Internet, Death, Dependability, Determination, Dying, Easter, Emergency Medical Services (EMS), End of Life, Etc., Friendship, God's Creatures, Grief, Holiday Thoughts, Honesty, Hospice Poems, etc."
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Jocularity.com (Former home to the Journal of Nursing Jocularity (JNJ)):"Nursing & Medical Humor. Find hundreds of jokes and links to sites that will make you smile. Therapeutic Humor Associations, Battle of the Sexes, Bedside Nursing Humor, Brain Teasers, Clowning, Clowns, Therapeutic Humor & Comedy Links, Dental Humor, Emergency Department Humor, General Nursing Humor, Geriatrics, Senior Citizen, etc."
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Legalnursingconsultant.org:"This website is intended to be a resource for Legal Nurse Consultants, Attorneys looking to use their services, and nurses looking to enter the field of Legal Nurse Consulting. On our site you'll find a directory of LNCs by state and specialty."
http://www.legalnursingconsultant.org

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Nursefriendly.com:"Nationwide Nursing Resources: In this Nursing Portal you'll find information on Nursing Jobs, Nursing Schools, Nurse Degrees, LPNs, RNs, APNs, Nursing Associations and much more."
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Nursinga2z.com:"It is our intent for this Alphabetical, A to Z index to be a comprehensive listing (In Progress) of Nursing-related resources on the Internet. It is indexed by Google and fully searchable."
http://www.nursinga2z.com

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Nursingdiabetics.com:"Welcome to NursingDiabetics.com. Here you will find information on all aspects of Diabetes, a disease that afflicts millions of people world wide. I'll be adding pages as fast as I can research the information so remember to bookmark this page and return."
http://www.nursingdiabetics.com

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Nursingdiscussions.com:"This website will be a portal to Nursing Discussion boards throughout the Web. If your site has a discussion board we don't have listed here, please contact us."
http://www.nursingdiscussions.com

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Nursingentrepreneurs.com:"Nationwide Nursing resource to nurse entrepreneurs looking to nework and start home based businesses. On it you will find links to small and large business related resources."
http://www.nursingentrepreneurs.com

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Nursinghumor.com:"Nursing & Medical Humor. Find hundreds of jokes and links to sites that will make you smile. Therapeutic Humor Associations, Battle of the Sexes, Bedside Nursing Humor, Brain Teasers, Clowning, Clowns, Therapeutic Humor & Comedy Links, Dental Humor, Emergency Department Humor, General Nursing Humor, Geriatrics, Senior Citizen, etc."
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Andrew Lopez, RN
Nursefriendly, Inc. A New Jersey Corporation.
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Friday, June 10, 2011

Top 5 Don’ts for Doctors in Primary Care - By RONI CARYN RABIN-NYTimes.com

Antibiotics for sore throats and CT scans for minor head injuries in children are among the most wasteful practices in primary care medicine, a national physicians’ group said last week. Among the others are electrocardiograms performed routinely on healthy adults and widespread prescribing of brand-name statins to reduce L.D.L., or “bad” cholesterol.

Related

More Vital Signs Columns

The group issuing the report, the National Physicians Alliance, an organization of some 22,000 physicians, developed three separate “Top 5” lists for primary care doctors — internists, family doctors and pediatricians — that were essentially lists of medical “don’ts.” The lists were published online in The Archives of Internal Medicine.

via nytimes.com

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Friday, May 27, 2011

More primary care tied to lower death rates | Reuters

Seniors living in areas with more primary care have slightly lower death rates and are less likely to end up in the hospital with a preventable disease, U.S. researchers have found.

In contrast to some earlier studies, which have yielded mixed results, the new work looked at how much primary care was actually delivered to patients -- not just how many primary care physicians were in a certain area.
"The magic is not in how many primary care physicians there are, it is what they do," said Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Primary Care Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, who was not involved in the study.

via reuters.com

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Thursday, May 26, 2011

Swimmer's ear is a common and expensive malady that can be prevented- Linda Shrieves, latimes.com

By Linda Shrieves, Orlando Sentinel

- Swimmer's ear is a common malady every summer as millions of Americans plunge into pools, lakes and oceans seeking relief from the heat.
But swimmer's ear takes a toll — and not just on parents and patients.

According to a new study from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, swimmer's ear also costs the nation a lot of money and time spent on doctors' visits. In 2007, the latest data available, the CDC found that an estimated 2.4 million health care visits were attributed to swimmer's ear — at a cost of about $500 million.

via latimes.com

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Tuesday, May 3, 2011

Rising health care costs put focus on illegal immigrants - USATODAY.com

Juan Perez had stomach pains for a month before deciding to visit a health clinic here that is open Thursday nights so migrant farmworkers don't miss a day working in the fields.

As an illegal, uninsured immigrant, Perez has had problems in the past — not only with his health, but with navigating the U.S. health care maze. In Michigan, there was no interpreter at his local health clinic, the bills had to be paid in installments, and co-workers warned that a visit to a doctor could lead to deportation. In North Carolina, he's found a health care home at Tiffany Revels' weekly clinic — providing he can hitch a ride there.

"The biggest concern is getting sick, because you don't have anyone here," Perez says after Revels, a family nurse practitioner at the federally funded clinic, prescribes two antibiotics and Pepto-Bismol tablets for his bacterial gastritis. "You are here by yourself."

via usatoday.com

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Action For Better Healthcare » Finally a roadmap for a coordinated approach to patient care

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) released their long anticipated regulations dealing with ten pages of the 2,200-page March 2010 Affordable Care Act. Those ten pages are really the crux of what healthcare reform is all about and it is to improve the way we provide healthcare in this country.

Although these regulations required another 400 plus pages of explanation at least patients, families and caregivers now have an “expectation roadmap” outlining how the care they receive can be better. For the first time we have clear-cut targets to help us successfully achieve two-thirds of the triple aim – improving the quality of care and improving patient/family satisfaction with their care. The third part of the triple aim, monetary savings, should occur as a byproduct of the above clinical improvements.

Many doctors, nurses and others I talk with find the proposed regulations overwhelming and confusing. But remember, CMS is looking to us now for suggestions on how the recommendations can be improved before they become final. So be sure to contribute your comments.

via actionforbetterhealthcare.com

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Monday, April 11, 2011

Should Emergency Departments Turn Away Nonurgent Patients? - TIME

A few weeks ago, the American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) launched a campaign to derail proposed policies to reduce the use of emergency departments (EDs). ACEP's problem with the campaign is the logic that underpins it: policymakers think that ED use, in aggregate, is a costly problem and a major driver of unnecessary health care costs in the U.S. ACEP claims that rather than delivering unnecessary care, EDs treat many patients who have no alternative when they need comprehensive medical care in a timely manner; that is, EDs deliver altogether necessary care.

ACEP has challenged reports from South Carolina and Massachusetts suggesting that a high percentage of ED use is unnecessary and that reform efforts — particularly payment incentives — will reduce "inappropriate" usage. In South Carolina, a state legislator, Representative Bill Herbkersman, even recommended that special call boxes be placed in the homes of more than 3,000 Medicaid patients to give them 24-hour access to nurses who could diagnose them over the phone and reduce costly and unnecessary ED visits. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Georgia has also increased the co-pay on ED visits from $100 to $200 and has been steering its members away from EDs to urgent-care centers and retail clinics (with the help of a Google Maps application, soon be available as an app for members' mobile phones).

via time.com

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Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Autism Diagnoses Still More Likely in Richer Neighborhoods - Yahoo! News

Poor children with autism are less likely than richer kids to have the condition diagnosed, but this disparity has decreased in recent years, according to a new study.

Researchers analyzed data on children in California and found that the average age of autism diagnosis fell from 5.9 years among children born in 1992 to 3.8 years for those born in 2000.

Of the 4,906,926 children born in California between 1992 and 2000, they found that 18,731 (0.38 percent) were diagnosed with autism. The prevalence of autism in the state increased from 29 per 10,000 children in 1992 to 49 per 10,000 children in 2000.

The study appears in the April issue of the American Sociological Review.

via news.yahoo.com

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Accountable Care Organizations: Improving Care Coordination for People with Medicare | HealthCare.gov

The Affordable Care Act includes a number of policies to help physicians, hospitals, and other caregivers improve the safety and quality of patient care and make health care more affordable. By focusing on the needs of patients and linking payments to outcomes, these delivery system reforms will help improve the health of individuals and communities and slow cost growth.
On March 31, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released proposed new rules to help doctors, hospitals, and other providers better coordinate care for Medicare patients through Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). ACOs create incentives for health care providers to work together to treat an individual patient across care settings – including doctor’s offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. The Medicare Shared Savings Program will reward ACOs that lower growth in health care costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and putting patients first. Patient and provider participation in an ACO is purely voluntary.

via healthcare.gov

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Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Rand: High-deductible health plans produce good and bad outcomes | Healthcare Finance News

A new study by the Rand Corporation indicates people on high-deductible health plans significantly reduce their healthcare spending – but they're also cutting back on preventive care.

The study of more than 800,000 families across the country showed that when families changed to health plans that carried an annual deductible of $1,000 or more per person, their healthcare spending dropped by an average of 14 percent. Healthcare spending was also lower for those same families with a moderate health savings account.

Savings decreased, however, for families with an HSA where employers contributed more than half of an individual’s deductible.

via healthcarefinancenews.com

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Want Medicare To Pay For Home Care? See Your Doctor : Shots - Health Blog : NPR

Starting next month, seniors getting health care in their homes will have to see a doctor to make sure they actually need the service. Otherwise Medicare won't pay.

Sounds logical, right?

Not so, says a coalition of health providers and consumer groups that complains the rule is overly burdensome on seniors and doctors.

Home health agencies, doctor and consumer groups say frail, homebound seniors won't be able to get to a doctor's office because of their health status or lack of doctors in rural areas.

They also worry that many doctors are either unaware of the new regulation or won't know how to comply with its documentation requirements that call on physicians to certify they or another health care provider, such as a nurse practitioner, have seen a patient for the specific reason of certifying the need for home health care.

"There is a lot of confusion out there, and patients may lose access to their care," said Nora Super, an AARP lobbyist.

via npr.org

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Friday, April 1, 2011

Body Measurement Tracker | HealtheHuman

Body Measurement Tracker

Use the Body Measurements Tracker to keep track of your measurements over time. The tracker records height, weight, neck, chest, waist, hip, bicep, forearm, thigh, calf, and foot measurements, and automatically runs the calculations for BMI, Waist-to-Height, and Waist-to-Hip and other key ratios. How is your new fitness routine impacting the fit of your clothes? Find out where you are getting the most change and definition in your body by logging often and reviewing the results in the charts feature. Set goals to keep you on track and motivated. Whether you are training with a structured fitness program or just want to watch your weight during the holidays, you can do it all in the body measurements tracker.

Track Your Body Measurements
When you input data in the body measurement tracker, we will automatically calculate key metrics for you. Just input a few measurement and we can provide you with many valuable health stats to keep you on track. Our tracker also provides helpful hints on how to get the most accurate and consistent measurements each time.

With the body measurements feature, you can track:

via healthehuman.com

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New Health Dialogue (NewHealthDialog) on Twitter

New Health Dialogue

@NewHealthDialog Washington, D.C.

Policy blog focusing on issues of cost, coverage, and quality in health reform.

http://www.newhealthdialogue.com

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NewHealthDialog New Health Dialogue

Happy Birthday Affordable Care Act! May you have many healthy years ahead, and may your many fine qualities continue to win new friends #ACA

23 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

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NewHealthDialog New Health Dialogue

Please RT: Former Cap Hill press sec Emily Hershenson missing! Please review pics. Help bring her home bit.ly/gUsFd6

22 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

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NewHealthDialog New Health Dialogue

Jack Wennberg: "Penalizing high cost hospitals [...] would surely dampen enthusiasm to build more hospital capacity" http://wapo.st/dPWjg1

18 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

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NewHealthDialog New Health Dialogue

"The U.S. Government: An insurance conglomerate protected by a standing army" @ezraklein with a mindblowing graph http://wapo.st/hUpMXl

10 Mar Favorite Retweet Reply

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SenatorDurbin Senator Dick Durbin

by NewHealthDialog

Just talked to @BillGates about global health & development--#GatesFoundation doing important work. Photo: http://1.usa.gov/f9k8WL

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Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Most Canadians see health care as top issue: poll - CTV News

A growing number of Canadians see health care, ahead of the economy, as the top issue facing the country, according to a new poll.

The Nanos Research poll, conducted for CTV and The Globe and Mail, comes on the eve of a federal budget that is expected to focus on job creation and Canada's economic recovery.

It found that nearly 30 per cent of respondents, when unprompted, said health care was the top priority (percentage-point change from last month in brackets):

Health care: 29.2 per cent (+6.3)
Jobs / Economy: 18.1 per cent (-2.1)
Education: 8.8 per cent (+3.5)
Environment: 7.5 per cent (-2.8)
Debt: 3.8 per cent (-1.4)
Unsure: 9.1 per cent (-3.3)

Last April, with Canada still staggering from a worldwide recession, more than half of all Canadians felt the economy was the top issue.

Health care, by contrast, fell below 15 per cent.

via ctv.ca

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amednews: Model legislation drafted for out-of-network balance billing :: March 29, 2011 ... American Medical News

A legislative organization calls on hospitals, insurers and physicians to disclose when patients must pay for care.

By Emily Berry, amednews staff. Posted March 29, 2011.

As several states consider whether, or how, to restrict balance billing by out-of-network physicians, the National Conference of Insurance Legislators on March 6 adopted model legislation on the issue.

Rather than explicitly banning or allowing physicians to bill patients when insurance doesn't cover what a physician is owed, the model legislation calls for greater transparency on the part of hospitals, insurers and doctors to alert patients to the possibility that they could end up paying out of pocket for care.

The model bill builds on laws recently adopted in Louisiana and Texas, according to NCOIL's announcement.

via ama-assn.org

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Tuesday, March 29, 2011

New Health Insurance Survey: 9 Million Adults Joined Ranks of Uninsured Due to Job Loss in 2010; Few Viable Health Insurance Options Exist for Unemployed - The Commonwealth Fund

An estimated nine million working-age adults—57 percent of people who had health insurance through a job that was lost—became uninsured in the last two years, according to the Commonwealth Fund 2010 Biennial Health Insurance Survey, released today. The survey paints a bleak picture for the 43 million adults under age 65 who reported that they or their spouse lost a job in the past two years, finding that job losses are often compounded by the loss of health insurance, leaving families vulnerable to catastrophic financial losses and bankruptcy in the event of a serious illness or accident.

According to the report, Help on the Horizon: How the Recession Has Left Millions of Workers Without Health Insurance, and How Health Reform Will Bring Relief, the unemployed have great difficulty finding affordable health care. Only 25 percent of people who lost employer health insurance were able to find another source of health insurance coverage, and only 14 percent continued their job-based coverage through COBRA. In addition, purchasing individual coverage was not a viable option for most people. Seventy-one percent of adults who tried to buy individual coverage in the past three years, or 19 million people, either found it difficult or impossible to find a plan that fit their needs; found it difficult or impossible to find a plan they could afford; or were turned down or charged a higher price for coverage because of a preexisting condition.

“This survey tells a story of millions of Americans who lost their jobs during the recession, lost their health benefits too, and had essentially no place to turn for affordable health care coverage—putting their health and financial security at risk,” said Commonwealth Fund President Karen Davis. “The silver lining is that the Affordable Care Act has already begun to bring relief to families. Once the new law is fully implemented, we can be confident that no future recession will have the power to strip so many Americans of their health security.”

via commonwealthfund.org

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Poll: Americans Are (Still) Confused About Health-Care Overhaul Law - Health Blog - WSJ

More than half of Americans say they don’t fully understand the health-care overhaul law, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation tracking poll.

The 53% who say they’re confused is only slightly less than the 55% who reported the same last April, shortly after the law was passed. The confusion rate dipped to a low of 42% in June in the past year.

Last month’s Kaiser poll found that almost half of those surveyed thought — incorrectly — that the law had been repealed.

In general, people remain divided in their feelings about the law, with 42% viewing it favorably and 46% viewing it unfavorably, Kaiser says. And not surprisingly, people identifying as Democrats generally have a positive view, while Republicans are strongly opposed. Independents are split, though they’re leaning towards a negative view (49%) rather than a positive one (37%).

via blogs.wsj.com

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Monday, March 28, 2011

amednews: More adults going without medical care because of costs :: March 28, 2011 ... American Medical News

More working-age Americans are going without health insurance and not seeking physician care for injuries or illness because they can't afford it, according to two new studies released in March.

A report by the New York-based Commonwealth Fund found that the portion of patients delaying medical treatment in the last year is trending upward. Findings from the group's biennial health insurance survey in 2010 show that an increasing percentage of working-age adults skipped office visits, medical tests and prescriptions because of costs.

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Topic: Uninsured

Many survey respondents are going without health coverage after losing a job during the economic recession, said Sara Collins, an author of the Commonwealth Fund study.

via ama-assn.org

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Saturday, March 26, 2011

'Dispense As Written' Prescriptions May Add $7.7 Billion To Annual Health Care Costs, Researchers Found

About 5% of prescriptions submitted by CVS Caremark Pharmacy Benefit Management (PBM) members in a 30-day period during 2009 included a "dispense as written" (DAW) designation.
This practice - whereby doctors or patients demand the dispensing of a specific brand-name drug and not a generic alternative - costs the health care system up to $7.7 billion annually, according to a new study by researchers at Harvard University, Brigham and Women's Hospital and CVS Caremark. Moreover, these requests reduce the likelihood that patients actually fill new prescriptions for essential chronic conditions.
In a study published this week in the American Journal of Medicine, the researchers demonstrate that DAW designations for prescriptions have important implications for medication adherence. They found that when starting new essential therapy, chronically ill patients with DAW prescriptions were 50 to 60 percent less likely to actually fill the more expensive brand name prescriptions than generics. "Although dispense as written requests would seem to reflect a conscious decision by patients or their physicians to use a specific agent, the increased cost sharing that results for the patient may decrease the likelihood that patients actually fill their prescriptions," the researchers said.

via medicalnewstoday.com

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