Digest
VHIG Digest: Volume 2, No. 4
Mar. 14, 2011—By Jake McClure, VMS II In the News 1. Wall Street Journal Reports Almost 5% of Americans Report Falling Asleep at the Wheel A March 3rd article in the Wall Street Journal reported a scary statistic regarding Americans and their tendency to fall asleep while driving at the wheel. Based on numbers released by theCDC, of the 74,571 Americans surveyed, 4.7%...
VHIG Digest: Volume 2, No. 3
Feb. 22, 2011—By Janice Babbs, OGSM II In the News 1. HealthGrades Releases List of Top 50 Cities for Hospital Care HealthGrades, a leading independent healthcare ratings organization, released the first-ever list of America’s Top 50 Cities for hospital care. The rankings are based on a comprehensive study of patient death and complication rates at the nation’s nearly 5,000 hospitals. HealthGradesidentified those...
VHIG Digest: Volume 2, No. 2
Jan. 24, 2011—By Julie McNeil, OGSM II In the News 1. U.S. House of Representatives Repeals PPACA On Wednesday, January 19, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 245 to 189 to repeal the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), voting on party lines. Three Democrats joined the unanimous Republican vote: Dan Boren (D-OK), Mike McIntyre (D-NC), and Mike...
VHIG Digest: Volume 2, No. 1
Jan. 10, 2011—1. Wall Street Journal investigates controversy over rates of spinal fusion surgery A December 20th article in the Wall Street Journal reported on an unusually high rate of spinal fusion surgeries at Norton Hospital in Louisville, Ky. Five spinal surgeons there contributed to giving Norton the distinction of having the third-highest rate of spinal fusion surgeries of any U.S. hospital. Central to this controversy is that in 2010 these surgeons received over $7 million from Medtronic, Inc, the manufacturer of the spinal fusion device the surgeons used.Spinal fusion surgery, which involves fusing 2 or more vertebrae in patients with significant back pain, is a particularly controversial operation due to limited evidence of its effectiveness, especially as an indication for patients with degenerative disk disease. The article touches on the problem of financial incentives and the extent to which they affect volume of procedures.
VHIG Digest: Volume 1, No. 4
Dec. 13, 2010—By Tim Lockney, VMS II In the News 1. IHI Forum Reflections: 10 ‘Aha’ Moments (12/9) A near-record number of almost 6,000 plus physicians, hospital chiefs, nursing executives and others responsible for quality and patient satisfaction attended the Institute for Healthcare Improvement’s 22nd annual quality forum this December, the first IHI forum to be held since the passage...
VHIG Digest: Volume 1, No. 3
Nov. 29, 2010—By Piotr Pilarski, VMS IV In the News 1. New CMS Rule Requires Hospitals to Respect Visitation and Medical Decision-Making Rights of Same-Sex Couples – 11/18/10 With approximately 7,600 “overwhelmingly favorable” comments from various health care constituents and unanimous support from hospital groups, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) passed a rule that will require...
VHIG Digest: Volume 1, No. 2
Nov. 15, 2010—By Irving Ye, MD/MBA Candidate 2012 In the News 1. VA Health System Shines in Quality-of-Care Study (11/9) A report in the November issue of the national publication Medical Care finds that the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health system generally outperforms the private sector in following recommended processes for patient care. The study authors,...