Monthly Archive for March 2009
« February 2009 | | April 2009 »
March 31, 2009
links for 2009-03-31
-
Reform of the U.S. healthcare system is vital this year because of growing costs and worsening care, the Health and Human Services Department said in a report on Monday.
-
The idea that mammography may do more harm than good may be alien to many American women.
-
The watchdog said NHS trusts must do more to meet their legal obligations to promote race equality following a review, which showed that examples of good practice existed but many trusts fell short on meeting basic requirements.
-
The African National Congress (ANC) plans to introduce national health insurance in its next term in government, party president Jacob Zuma said on Tuesday.
-
The prevalence of diabetes is at least twice as high in some ethnic groups as it is in whites. This is true even among people with similar body mass index (BMI) numbers, a large new study finds.
Posted by: Staff on March 31, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Why Twitter Works
(This post appears as part of our Tech Tuesday series.)
Twitter is the new social media darling. It has entered the domain of health, sports, entertainment, and emergency rescue. You can even find recipes in 140 characters or less.
Yesterday, people confirmed an earthquake via Twitter.
But with all this hype and promise does anyone know why Twitter works?
Henning von Vogelsang offers up a list of 10 things that make Twitter work. James Howard gives an example of Twitter working in the 'Great Conversation.'
But it's Daniel Miessler who I think gets closest to the mark. On his blog he writes:
Twitter, on the other hand, by having the deepest personal penetration (mobile phone) combined with the most ease of use (text message), has an effort rating that falls below most people’s natural resistance to participate, and its positive reward ratio is much higher because people are far more likely to respond to a text message than almost anything else.
Or as I would put it in 140 characters or less, Twitter works because it's simple.
Follow the Health Disparities Blog on Twitter.
Posted by: Staff on March 31, 2009
Category: Tech Tuesday; twitter
March 30, 2009
links for 2009-03-30
-
Indigenous children in Canada, the United States, Australia and New Zealand experience higher rates of infant mortality, child injury, accidental death as well as a host of other health ailments compared to non-Indigenous children according to a new report released today by the Centre for Research on Inner City Health.
-
African-American men are 44 percent more likely to die from colon cancer than white men, and African-American women, 46 percent more likely to die than white women.
-
Last hired, first fired: This generations-old cliche rings bitterly true for millions of Latinos and blacks who are losing jobs at a faster rate than the general population during this punishing recession.
-
Even with Hennepin’s open-door policy, hospital officials say, getting health care is increasingly difficult for many illegal immigrants. Previously allowed to use Medicaid, people here illegally are no longer eligible, except for children, pregnant women or those with emergency cases. Some illegal immigrants are too afraid to approach a public hospital like Hennepin, fearful that any official interaction might tip off immigration agents.
Posted by: Staff on March 30, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 27, 2009
links for 2009-03-27
-
President Barack Obama should specifically address disparities in black unemployment, foreclosures, education and health care, the National Urban League says in its annual "State of Black America" report.
-
According to data released by the Missouri Foundation for Health, African-Americans are 2.3 times as likely to receive inadequate prenatal care than whites.
Posted by: Staff on March 27, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 26, 2009
The Effect of Limited English Proficiency (LEP) on Health Outcomes
J. Daryl Thornton, MD, MPH presenting as part of our Works in Progress Series.
Video also available at Viddler.com.
Posted by: Staff on March 26, 2009
Category: Audio / Video; Cultural competency; Health Care; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Hispanic Health; Immigrant Health; LEP; Latinos; Limited English Proficiency; Works in Progress; emergency care; icu; interpreter advocates
links for 2009-03-26
-
Health disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians will not end unless racism is tackled
-
A funny thing happened on the way to passage of Timothy's Law, which requires health insurers to provide coverage for mental illnesses. State legislators exempted three of New York's publicly subsidized health programs for low-income residents.
-
Inequality goes hand in hand with the social diseases that blight whole communities. The rational conclusion to be drawn from the mass of evidence that Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett have assembled is that all of us, irrespective of income, have much to gain from the creation of a more equal society.
-
In Wisconsin, American Indians have the highest rate of diabetes, at almost six times the rate of whites. African Americans and Hispanics have the second and third highest rates, nearly one and a half times more than whites, respectively. Asians have a diabetes rate just slightly higher than whites.
Posted by: Staff on March 26, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Health disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians
The Independent Weekly has an article about health disparities in Australia.
The article reports on a new study that finds that up to 93% of indigenous people in urban South Australia have experienced racism.
As a result, these people sought out education and health care less often. Today, there is a 17 year gap in life expectancy between indigenous and non-indigenous Australians.
It should be noted that Australia has an universal health care system.
EXTRA: The Commonwealth Fund has a good overview of the health care system in Australia.
Posted by: Staff on March 26, 2009
Category: Australia; Cervical Cancer; Health Disparities; Health Disparities; Health Disparities; Racial Disparities; Racism; Universal Health Care
March 25, 2009
links for 2009-03-25
-
Social and economic gaps between whites and blacks persist in the United States despite an atmosphere that led to the election of President Obama, an Urban League report said.
-
The Obama administration has signed onto a United Nations official statement of support for “Human Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity.”
-
The factors that feed our obese medical system are manifold. But three are especially troublesome. First, there is an unfortunate ethos within American medicine and society at large called “heroic positivism.” Essentially, it is the idea that the more we do to and for our patients, the more they gain.
-
Reductions to public health and nonemergency services by state and county health departments in response to the economic recession have resulted in limited access to care for undocumented immigrants
-
Forget about single-payer, which would be the easiest, fastest and most efficient way to cover everyone so the necessary national dialogue over how to control costs can begin. Many liberals, most Democrats in Congress, and President Obama chose a milder approach -- creating a government plan to serve as a default option for anyone or any employer who can't find an affordable option in the private marketplace.
Posted by: Staff on March 25, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 24, 2009
links for 2009-03-24
-
Community health centers saw a significant increase in patient load amid the state's efforts to improve health coverage by expanding public programs and making private insurance more affordable.
-
No one can deny the differences between ethnic groups when it comes to culture and language. But it seems race can dictate one's health, too. Some examples:
-
The worldwide epidemic of tuberculosis is mainly found in third world countries and is being monitored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). About 1.5 million people die of TB every year. South Africa recently has been hit the hardest (infections of TB have almost tripled) because of the also high rate of HIV in people living there because treatment is expensive and ongoing and the patient’s immune systems are weakened.
-
A small recent study of refugees in schools in Stockholm found that Somalis were in classes for autistic children at three times the normal rate.
Posted by: Staff on March 24, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 23, 2009
links for 2009-03-23
-
Black patients wait longer for hospital beds after being admitted into the emergency department than patients of other races
-
African Americans have a shorter life expectancy than whites, and cancer plays a major role in this disparity. African Americans are more prone to get cancer; they tend to present at a later, deadlier stage; and they have poorer survival rates after diagnosis.
-
Despite the fact that colorectal cancer screening among Medicare patients is increasing, gaps still remain between whites — who are screened most frequently — and other racial and ethnic groups, according to a new study by the University of California, Davis and the University of Washington. The biggest gap is between whites and Hispanics, who are screened at 47% and 33%, respectively. Asians and Pacific Islanders were screened at 42%, and blacks, 38%.
-
IF YOU THINK this is the era of e-government and transparency, it's time to think again. Hard as it is to imagine, there's a move afoot in Congress to take away the public's free online access to tax-funded medical research findings.
Posted by: Staff on March 23, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 20, 2009
links for 2009-03-20
-
Overcrowded clinics in Chicago neighborhoods and area hospitals that refuse to give emergency contraception to rape victims are just some of the examples of health care disparity facing women and minorities
-
A report released Thursday shows more than 11% of the state's American Indian population has diabetes. The average for all Utahns is about 6%.
-
People in some parts of West Lancashire will continue to die much earlier than others within the district unless significant action is taken.
-
for most types of cancer, the disparity in mortality is almost entirely due to the fact that African Americans are more likely to get cancer in the first place. Their stage at presentation and survival after diagnosis play a much smaller role.
-
Eating out, lack of social support and high-risk lifestyles are just some of the barriers that stop patients with type 2 diabetes from controlling their condition, according to a research review that covered 8,900 patients and 4,550 healthcare providers from 28 countries.
Posted by: Staff on March 20, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 19, 2009
links for 2009-03-19
-
Heart failure—a disabling and often deadly form of heart disease—is hitting African Americans in their 30s and 40s at the same rate as Caucasians in their 50s and 60s, according to a study featured as the lead article of the March 19 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
-
Do racial and ethnic disparities persist in contemporary practice? If so, what are their health consequences? And how can these disparities be overcome?
-
According to the reports, the poor care results from unskilled or indifferent staff members at detention centers, overcrowding in facilities, bureaucracy, language barriers and limited services available to detainees.
-
Examples of system changes aimed at reducing wait times can be found at Parma Community General Hospital, with its Doc at the Door program
Posted by: Staff on March 19, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 18, 2009
links for 2009-03-18
-
Penn study points to need for regionalized emergency care system
-
With a large poor and minority population, the District of Columbia has struggled with HIV for decades. Its report on Monday showed the number of people with HIV infections rose 22 percent from 2006 to 2007.
-
Despite growing public support to ban the nontherapeutic use of antibiotics in food animals, a U.S. representative said on Tuesday efforts to move legislation through Congress this year could be met with resistance.
-
As a group, African-American women have the highest percentage of overweight/obesity in the United States. Three out of four African-American women are either overweight or obese.
-
Kidney disease is a growing problem in the United States, and certain racial and ethnic minorities, including African, Asian, Hispanic and Native Americans are at a higher risk than the general population for developing conditions that lead to kidney failure.
Posted by: Staff on March 18, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
1 in 4 Americans lacks timely access to optimal care during time-sensitive medical emergencies
A recent study that appears in the Annals of Emergency Medicine reports on the access to emergency services for some Americans.
In the U.S. in general 71% of Americans live within 30 minutes of an emergency room. However, some areas are not so lucky. From Eureka Alert:
In South Dakota, for instance, just 13 percent of the population has access within 60 minutes to an emergency department that sees three or more patients per hour; in Montana, only 8 percent do. Even in the more populous, urban Northeast, only about half of residents in Maine and Vermont can reach one of those higher-volume emergency departments within an hour. Overall, the authors found that less than half of Americans have access to a teaching hospital, which tend to offer more sophisticated treatments and be staffed by subspecialists round-the-clock, in an hour.
(h/t to Wisconsin Office of Rural Health)
EXTRA: On Friday, March 20th from 3-4pm Dr. Daryl Thornton will be presenting the next lecture in our Works in Progress series. The topic is, "Interpreters as Advocates". This is a very unique project taking place at MetroHealth Medical Center.
Location is room R240 of the Rammelkamp building at MetroHealth Medical Center.
Please RSVP to Michele Abraham at mabraham@metrohealth.org or by phone at 216-778-3858.
Posted by: Staff on March 18, 2009
Category: Access to Health Care; Disparities; Health Care; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Hospitals; Patient Navigators; Works in Progress; emergency care; health care access
March 17, 2009
links for 2009-03-17
-
Telehealth, sometimes referred to as telemedicine, is particularly valuable in Wyoming. The state's rural nature and sparse population make it more difficult to attract health professionals, and it reduces demand for highly specialized doctors. Many in the state's medical community see telehealth as a way to bring advanced care to the Wyoming's most remote settlements.
-
As the recession deepens, doctors and hospitals are reporting that hard-pressed patients are deferring elective surgery, like knee replacements and nose jobs, even as others are speeding up non-urgent procedures out of fear that they may soon lose their jobs and health insurance.
-
There are a lot of people other than doctors and nurses getting ready to volunteer
-
Even with health insurance, more than one million cancer survivors living in the United States report that they forgo needed medical care because of concerns about cost
Posted by: Staff on March 17, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 16, 2009
links for 2009-03-16
-
The number of uninsured children and seniors in Ohio has dropped in the last few years, but the number of working adults without health insurance has increased - causing the state’s overall uninsured population to climb by about 100,000, according to the 2008 Ohio Family Health Survey released today.
-
Illinois lawmakers recently unanimously passed a bill (HB 5192) that seeks to reduce breast cancer health disparities among minority and immigrant women
-
If the global economy were a 100-metre dash, the U.S. would start 23 metres behind its closest competitors because of health care that costs too much and delivers too little, a business group says.
-
Research has revealed that people with schizophrenia die on average ten years younger than the rest of the population,this has raised alarm bells among race equality experts because of the disproportionate numbers of black people who are routinely given this diagnosis.
-
Thanks to new taxes and fees imposed last year, the health plan’s jittery finances have stabilized for the moment. But government and industry officials agree that the plan will not be sustainable over the next 5 to 10 years if they do not take significant steps to arrest the growth of health spending.
Posted by: Staff on March 16, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 13, 2009
links for 2009-03-13
-
A new report by an independent watchdog group says inmates in New York State's 70 prisons lack adequate access to health care.
-
High blood pressure accounts for some of the disproportionately higher mortality rates among African American women with breast cancer compared with their Caucasian counterparts, according to an article in the International Journal of Cancer.
-
Restaurant group to challenge ruling that businesses with 20 more more employees have to offer health benefits.
-
With Inuit women three times more likely to die from cervical cancer than other Canadian women, it is clear that there is a vast health discrepancy here.
-
While the doctors were aware that dying patients might feel abandoned and even took what they believed were steps to prevent it, patients and their caregivers continued to feel abandoned by their doctors both in the period leading up to and at the time of death.
Posted by: Staff on March 13, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 12, 2009
links for 2009-03-12
-
Striking new research shows dying blacks and Hispanics in the U.S. have much steeper treatment costs than whites, sobering evidence that racial health-care differences continue right up until death.
-
From isolated reservations across the state to urban pockets around Seattle, Native Americans are dying at higher rates than a decade ago, at a time when most people in Washington are living longer, healthier lives.
-
U.S. lawmakers unveiled a bipartisan proposal on Wednesday to allow government approval for cheaper copies of biotechnology medicines that cost as much as tens of thousands of dollars per year.
Posted by: Staff on March 12, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Native American Death Rates Soar
From seattlepi.com:
A recent state Department of Health report showed that the march against cancer, heart disease and infant mortality has largely bypassed Native Americans. In 2006, the latest year studied, Native American men were dying at the highest rate of all people, with little change since the early '90s. Their life expectancy was 71, the lowest age of all men, and six years lower than that of white men.
The news was just as grim for Native American women. Their death rate had surged by 20 percent in a 15-year period, while the overall death rate had decreased by 17 percent.
But the starkest health disparity was among babies. Native American babies were dying at a rate 44 percent higher than a decade ago, while the overall rate of infant deaths had declined.
Posted by: Staff on March 12, 2009
Category: Access to Care; Access to Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Native American Health; Social Determinants of Health; Socioeconomic Status
March 11, 2009
links for 2009-03-11
-
Three hospitals in the Cleveland-Akron area on Tuesday announced more than 200 layoffs and unveiled plans to shutter some programs and expand others to try and adjust to lower patient volumes and tough economic times.
-
The researcher, Dr. Scott S. Reuben, an anesthesiologist in Springfield, Mass., who practiced at Baystate Medical Center, never conducted the clinical trials that he wrote about in 21 journal articles dating from at least 1996
Posted by: Staff on March 11, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 10, 2009
links for 2009-03-10
-
More than three-quarters of adult Americans who have health insurance say they still worry about paying more for their medical care, and nearly 50 percent say they're "very" or "extremely" worried about the issue
-
“We have to face up to the fact that individual and collective mental health and well-being depends on reducing the gap between rich and poor. A large divide leads to a mentally unhealthy society, and many associated social problems. In the UK in particular, we’ve failed to acknowledge this link, preferring instead to blame the health and social conditions of those living on or near the poverty line on their own lifestyle choices.”
-
Dangling a financial carrot in front of doctors as a way to improve health quality has changed the way some doctors practice medicine, but has yet to significantly improve quality and may be interfering with doctor-patient relationships
-
In what may be an ominous sign for retail clinics, CVS Caremark has closed about 90 of some 550 MinuteClinic locations until the next flu season or other “seasonal” needs demand their services
Posted by: Staff on March 10, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 09, 2009
links for 2009-03-09
-
population research leaves more questions than answers when it comes to LGBT health
-
All in, the Harvard-affiliated hospital is on track for a $20 million operating loss this fiscal year
-
Blacks represent 19% of the county's population, according to state Department of Health epidemiologists; however, in 2008, 35%, or 26, of the 74 TB cases in the county were in U.S.-born blacks.
Posted by: Staff on March 09, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 06, 2009
links for 2009-03-06
-
Racial Disparities In Emergency Department Length Of Stay Point To Added Risks For Minority PatientsSick or injured African-American patients wait about an hour longer than patients of other races before being transferred to an inpatient hospital bed following emergency room visits, according to a new national study published in the journal Academic Emergency Medicine
-
The study suggests that independent grocery stores can improve access to healthy foods in areas where supermarket chains choose not to venture. Having a large grocery store in the neighborhood boosted the average fruit and vegetable intake by 0.69 servings per day.
-
Physicians for a National Health Program, a group of docs that claims 15,000 members and supports a single-payer system, had planned to demonstrate outside the White House today over what they said was the exclusion of single-payer advocates from the White House’s health-reform summit. But yesterday, PNHP canceled the protest — after the group’s president was invited to today’s meeting. Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.), who backs a Medicare-for-All bill in Congress, was also invited.
-
“Place of residence plays a larger role in dietary health than previously estimated,” said Manuel Franco, MD, PhD, lead author of the studies and an associate with the Bloomberg School’s Department of Epidemiology. “Our findings show that participants who live in neighborhoods with low healthy food availability are at an increased risk of consuming a lower quality diet. We also found that 24 percent of the black participants lived in neighborhoods with a low availability of healthy food compared with 5 percent of white participants.”
Posted by: Staff on March 06, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 05, 2009
links for 2009-03-05
-
The researchers found that the risk of severe complications, such as eclampsia and pulmonary embolism, was 80 cases per 100,000 maternities for white women. For black African women the risk was 188 cases per 100,000 maternities, rising to 196 for black Caribbean women.
-
Black heart attack patients living in racially segregated areas are 35% more likely than whites to be admitted to hospitals with higher mortality rates, even when hospitals that have better outcomes are geographically closer.
-
A study by researchers at the University of California, San Francisco has shown that hypertension, or high blood pressure, is a predictor of mortality among breast cancer patients, especially those who are African-American, and that hypertension accounts for approximately 30 percent of the survival disparity between African-American and white breast cancer patients.
-
They're asking patients to agree to what amounts to a gag order that bars them from posting negative comments online.
-
Kathryn Kaiser doesn't think she actually has seen her doctor, even though she went to his office three times last year. When she made an appointment, the Scottsdale resident was directed instead to a nurse practitioner for an exam and prescription.
Posted by: Staff on March 05, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
The problems of Latinos with diabetes
Bay State Banner has an in-depth look at many of the problems Latinos face when they are fighting diabetes. Among the issues are:
Lack of access to Spanish language health information
Cost of office visits and/or medications
Lack of access to stores that sell fresh/health food
High rates of insulin resistance in the Latino population
Unhealthy foods that are tied to culture and tradition
Lack of access to safe public areas for physical activity
EXTRA: Be sure to check out our Lunch Break Reading feed over at Delicious. Stay current with all the news around health and health disparities.
Posted by: Staff on March 05, 2009
Category: Disparities; Health Care; Health Care Costs; Health Disparities; Health Inequities; Heath Inequities; Latino; Latino; Latinos; Linguistic Competency
March 04, 2009
links for 2009-03-04
-
Asian and Pacific Islander children living in the U.S. have higher rates of type 1 and type 2 diabetes than children living in Asian countries
-
Trends in Child Health 1997-2006: Assessing Black-White Disparities
Posted by: Staff on March 04, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
March 03, 2009
links for 2009-03-03
-
The project aims at improving patient health, clearing away barriers to medical care — and lowering the cost of that care — through a coordinated team of medical professionals who are centered around patient needs, MetroHealth said.
-
Elderly patients who undergo surgery at teaching-intensive hospitals have better survival rates than at nonteaching hospitals, but these better survival rates occur in white patients, not black patients
-
"Five or 10 dollars may not seem like much, but for the families being forced to pay it, it may mean they go without a meal," said Kucinich, a Cleveland Democrat.
-
Plunging revenues from investments have forced median profit margins for U.S. hospitals to zero, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of hospital finances published on Monday.
Posted by: Staff on March 03, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading
Cash Up Front
Increasingly hospitals are requiring patients to pay for their procedures prior to treatment.
Someone with an office appointment might be required to either pay the entire cost of the visit, their insurance co-pay, or some lesser amount as determined by a rating system.
A recent article by the Washington Post shows how one office handles the issue:
At one doctor's office, just blocks from the White House, a video screen in the waiting area tells patients that if they don't have their insurance card, the practice would be happy to "reschedule your appointment." That practice also asks that the co-pay be coughed up before the patient sees the doctor and calls patients in arrears to a window in full view -- and earshot -- of other waiting patients.
Here in Cleveland, MetroHealth Medical Center has started requiring some payment from its poorest patients as determined by a rating system.
One of the problems with the cash up front model is this rating system.
Getting rated means you must see a financial counselor prior to making an appointment with a provider. It can take up to a month for a new patient walking in off the street to schedule the appointment to be rated, complete the paperwork, schedule an appointment with a provider, and finally see the doctor.
If the patient can't wait a month they may decide to go to the emergency room. There they will be met with higher fees for seeking out emergency care for a non-emergency condition.
If they decide to wait the rating system might result in a lower fee. But one wonders how much of a barrier to treatment even a small fee might be. For Rep. Dennis Kucinich it might be too much, "Five or 10 dollars may not seem like much, but for the families being forced to pay it, it may mean they go without a meal."
Posted by: Staff on March 03, 2009
Category: Health Care; Health Disparities; Healthcare; Uninsured; cash up front; insurance; insured
March 02, 2009
links for 2009-03-02
-
Washington’s Death with Dignity Act will take effect in four days, and doctors, pharmacists and health facility administrators are scrambling to figure out exactly what the law says and how they’re going to deal with it.
Posted by: Staff on March 02, 2009
Category: Lunch Break Reading