Preventive Training Supported
The Department of Health and Human Services has awarded 15 grants totaling $9 million to train about 55 residents in preventive medicine. Some of the funds come from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009. The support will go to accredited schools of public health and medicine and hospital-based residency programs, according to the agency. Griffin Health Services Corp., the parent company of Griffin Hospital in Derby, Conn., was awarded the top grant of $1.4 million. The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health received $1.1 million, and the University of California, Davis, received about $1 million, DHHS said.
State Backs Coordinated Care
Health care providers in five communities across New Hampshire have agreed with the state's major insurance companies to participate in a 5-year pilot program to encourage collaboration, prevention, and disease management instead of fee-for-service medicine, said Gov. John Lynch (D). Groups of providers in each community will become “accountable care organizations” and thus take responsibility for coordinating health care and preventive services to local residents. Each organization will determine how to spend its budget to achieve quality outcomes and efficiency in its area. The program “will move New Hampshire away from the fee-for-service model,” according to a statement from the governor's office. “Our current health care system rewards providers for seeing as many patients as possible. We're going to change that,” Gov. Lynch said in the statement.
Generics Saved Nearly $1 Trillion
Use of generic drugs saved the U.S. health care system more than $824 billion in 2000-2009, according to a report commissioned by the Generic Pharmaceutical Association and conducted by research firm IMS Health. Cardiovascular drugs, nervous system drugs, and metabolism drugs accounted for three-quarters of the savings, according to the report. In 2009, generics saved $139.6 billion, an increase of 15% over 2008, and those savings are expected to accelerate as 6 of the 10 current largest-selling brand-name drugs will lose patent protection by 2014, the report said.
Whites Least Hospitalized for HBP
Blacks were hospitalized for hypertension nearly five times as often as whites in 2006, and Hispanics were as likely as whites to be admitted for the condition, according to the Agency for Health Care Research and Quality. Whites had 33 admissions per 100,000 people each year, whereas the figure for blacks was 161 admissions and for Hispanics, 61 admissions. More than 250,000 people each year are hospitalized for hypertension with complications, the agency found. The poorest Americans were 2.5 times as likely to be admitted for hypertension as were the wealthiest: 83 vs. 32 admissions per 100,000.
Agencies Post Disability Guidance
The Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services have jointly issued new technical guidance for health providers to encourage care of people with mobility disabilities. “Access to Medical Care for Persons with Mobility Disabilities” details how the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and other government rules on disabled access apply to providers. The 19-page document includes an overview of general ADA requirements, frequently asked questions, and illustrated examples of accessible facilities, exam rooms, and medical equipment. Providers can download a copy of the booklet at
Call for U.S. Tobacco Strategy
The American College of Physicians has called for a new comprehensive federal strategy to control tobacco use, as opposed to what it called the “piecemeal actions” taken by states. “While tobacco use has decreased drastically over the last few decades, we still have a long way to go,” ACP President J. Fred Ralston Jr. said in a statement. The policy monograph “Tobacco Control and Prevention” says that in addition to more action against tobacco by the Food and Drug Administration, all states should establish and adequately fund efforts to prevent tobacco use among young people and provide information about tobacco dangers. All public and private insurers should provide tobacco-cessation and -treatment benefits to qualifying individuals, and physicians should help their patients quit, the ACP said.
ABIM Announces New Leadership
The American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) has new leadership: Dr. David Reuben, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, and chief of the division of geriatrics, will take over as chair, the ABIM said. Meanwhile, Dr. Catherine Lucey, director of residency training and vice dean for education at Ohio State University in Columbus was chosen as chair-elect. Dr. Talmadge King, the chair of the department of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, will serve as secretary-treasurer of the board.