In This Week’s Issue:
1. New York Times: The Importance of Sitting With Patients, click here to view the article.
2. NJBiz: Obamacare shoppers with chronic illnesses could use more online tools, study finds, click here to view.
3. Commentary: The Patient is in the Driver’s Seat, click here to view the article.
4. Health IT Analytics: How Does an ACO Differ from the Patient-Centered Medical Home?, click here to view the article.
5. Applied Clinical Trials: FDA, Sponsors Look to Expand Patient Input to Clinical Trials, click here to view the article.
6. Wall Street Journal: Hepatitis C Drugs are Cost Effective, but Affordability is Another Matter, click here to view the article.
7. Healthcare IT News: FDA Must Make Smarter Use of Big Data, click here to view the article.
8. HealthData Management: FDA's Sentinel System Harnesses Big Data to Monitor Medical Products, click here to view the article.
9. Fierce HealthIT: Geisinger Researchers Share Framework for Putting a Learning Health System into Practice, click here to view the article.
1. New York Times: The Importance of Sitting With Patients, click here to view the article.
2. NJBiz: Obamacare shoppers with chronic illnesses could use more online tools, study finds, click here to view.
3. Commentary: The Patient is in the Driver’s Seat, click here to view the article.
4. Health IT Analytics: How Does an ACO Differ from the Patient-Centered Medical Home?, click here to view the article.
5. Applied Clinical Trials: FDA, Sponsors Look to Expand Patient Input to Clinical Trials, click here to view the article.
6. Wall Street Journal: Hepatitis C Drugs are Cost Effective, but Affordability is Another Matter, click here to view the article.
7. Healthcare IT News: FDA Must Make Smarter Use of Big Data, click here to view the article.
8. HealthData Management: FDA's Sentinel System Harnesses Big Data to Monitor Medical Products, click here to view the article.
9. Fierce HealthIT: Geisinger Researchers Share Framework for Putting a Learning Health System into Practice, click here to view the article.
1. New York Times: The Importance of Sitting With Patients
In a moving article published in the New York Times, Dr. Dhruv Kullar highlights the challenges of living up to the promise of “patient-centeredness” while balancing the rigors on providing “efficient” care. He writes: “[My patient] asked me to sit for a few minutes and, shamefully, I hesitated. I had eight more patients to see before rounds and was already running behind. But I sat — listening to a dying woman’s fondest family memories, my mind racing through a seemingly endless list of boxes I had to check that morning. When my pager went off five minutes later, I excused myself, promising to return in the afternoon to finish our conversation. But I didn’t. There were new patient admissions. Emergencies on other floors. Notes to be written, consultants to be called, outside hospital medical records to be procured…. Surely patients want to be seen and treated in a timely manner, but when we sacrifice empathy for efficiency we fuel what lays at the core of patient — and physician — discontent with modern medicine. We hide behind buzzwords like ‘patient-centeredness’ and ‘shared decision-making’ without being able to offer the time that gives these terms true weight. Ultimately, reconciling this tension may mean reconceptualizing ‘efficiency’ to include the tremendous value that exists in having more time to spend with our patients.” Click here to view the article.
2. NJBiz: Obamacare shoppers with chronic illnesses could use more online tools, study finds
The National Health Council, an umbrella group of organizations that advocates for people with chronic diseases, released a study last Friday surveying state Exchange plans. The article stated, "individuals with chronic diseases who shop for health insurance online under the Affordable Care Act need better tools to help them figure out if their doctors and their drugs are covered by the plans they're considering buying, according to a new survey that also ranked states on how well they address consumer needs.” The National Health Council (NHC) engaged Lake Research Partners to evaluate the patient experience for exchange enrollees with chronic conditions. Their research showed people with chronic conditions understand the importance of having the right health insurance that meets their needs and that patients are conscientious shoppers. Yet no matter what kind of plan they purchased, patients didn’t feel they had all the needed information they wanted about the plans available through the exchanges. Click here to view the article. Click here to view the state progress reports.
3. Commentary: The Patient is in the Driver’s Seat
An intriguing article in Ashbury Park Press (A NJ-based affiliate of USA Today), clinical nurse educator Tamara Brown comments on the evolving nature of the doctor-patient relationship. “Imagine a doctor or nurse speaking with a patient. As you imagine the words being exchanged, who do you envision doing most of the talking? You most likely think of the physician mostly speaking. The patient may be respectfully nodding their head. However, the new age of healthcare sees things quite differently. The patient should be the one in this scenario taking the lead in talking or at least asking questions… Today, this has all changed as healthcare teams attempt to move toward a more patient-centered model. In the new model of care, the patients play an active role in their care. This means as the patient, be empowered to ask your healthcare team all the options available to you in your treatment plan. A treatment plan should be based on your concerns, preferences and values. A health plan of care should include goals that fit in with your lifestyle.” Click here to view the article.
4. Health IT Analytics: How Does an ACO Differ from the Patient-Centered Medical Home?
An article published last week on HealthITAnalytics.com examines the differences between the patient-centered medical home and the accountable care organization. “With alphabet soup like PCMH, ACO, MSSP, VBR, and FFS, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what the real differences are between the various quality and value-based reform options available to providers. After understanding what the patient-centered medical home is and how it’s structured, the next question to ask is how the PCMH model stacks up against another familiar initiative: the accountable care organization (ACO). In this installment of HealthITAnalytics.com’s practice transformation series, we will break down the differences between the patient-centered medical home and the accountable care organization...” Click here to view the article.
5. Applied Clinical Trials: FDA, Sponsors Look to Expand Patient Input to Clinical Trials
According to a report in Applied Clinical Trials, “Sanofi is building a strategic framework for ensuring patient-centricity, pointed out chief patient officer Anne Beal, who previously developed a ‘patient engagement rubric’ for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The challenges are to ensure ‘patient readiness’ through training, to promote ‘researcher readiness’ of scientists and investigators; and to address legal and compliance rules that vary around the world.” Click here to view the article.
6. Wall Street Journal: Hepatitis C Drugs are Cost Effective, but Affordability is Another Matter
Ed Silverman of The Wall Street Journal’s ‘Pharmalot’ blog recently commented, “there is little argument the new batch of hepatitis C drugs can save lives. But the battle over cost has also raised concerns some patients are being denied access to treatment because decision makers – at government agencies and private insurers – are more focused on near-term budget goals.” Click here to view the article.
7. Healthcare IT News: FDA Must Make Smarter Use of Big Data
As reported last week by Healthcare IT News, “[last] Monday, the Bipartisan Policy Center kicked off its five-point ‘FDA: Advancing Medical Innovation’ initiative... ‘Our inefficient, less-than-modern, drug discovery and device approval process drives up cost and delays treatment,’ said the initiative's co-chair, former Senator Bill Frist. ‘We must accelerate the process of getting safe and effective drug and medical devices to patients.’” Click here to view the article.
8. HealthData Management: FDA's Sentinel System Harnesses Big Data to Monitor Medical Products
According to an article in HealthData Management, “the [FDA’s] Sentinel initiative for monitoring the safety of FDA-regulated drugs and other medical products is one of the largest uses of big data in healthcare, according to the regulatory agency’s outgoing commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D… ‘Real-world data provides a vital tool to monitor medical products in use in the marketplace,’ Hamburg testified March 10 before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on ‘Continuing America’s Leadership in Medical Innovation for Patients.’” Click here to view the article.
9. Fierce HealthIT: Geisinger Researchers Share Framework for Putting a Learning Health System into Practice
Susan Hall of Fierce HealthIT reported last week that “while the learning health system, so far, is largely theoretical, researchers with Geisinger Health System lay out a framework for making it a reality within the Danville, Pennsylvania-based organization in an article at eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes)... The lack of a standard data model poses a potential roadblock for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) efforts develop a ‘network of networks’ to further comparative effectiveness research (CER), a Government Accountability Office report recently concluded.” Click here to view the article.
In a moving article published in the New York Times, Dr. Dhruv Kullar highlights the challenges of living up to the promise of “patient-centeredness” while balancing the rigors on providing “efficient” care. He writes: “[My patient] asked me to sit for a few minutes and, shamefully, I hesitated. I had eight more patients to see before rounds and was already running behind. But I sat — listening to a dying woman’s fondest family memories, my mind racing through a seemingly endless list of boxes I had to check that morning. When my pager went off five minutes later, I excused myself, promising to return in the afternoon to finish our conversation. But I didn’t. There were new patient admissions. Emergencies on other floors. Notes to be written, consultants to be called, outside hospital medical records to be procured…. Surely patients want to be seen and treated in a timely manner, but when we sacrifice empathy for efficiency we fuel what lays at the core of patient — and physician — discontent with modern medicine. We hide behind buzzwords like ‘patient-centeredness’ and ‘shared decision-making’ without being able to offer the time that gives these terms true weight. Ultimately, reconciling this tension may mean reconceptualizing ‘efficiency’ to include the tremendous value that exists in having more time to spend with our patients.” Click here to view the article.
2. NJBiz: Obamacare shoppers with chronic illnesses could use more online tools, study finds
The National Health Council, an umbrella group of organizations that advocates for people with chronic diseases, released a study last Friday surveying state Exchange plans. The article stated, "individuals with chronic diseases who shop for health insurance online under the Affordable Care Act need better tools to help them figure out if their doctors and their drugs are covered by the plans they're considering buying, according to a new survey that also ranked states on how well they address consumer needs.” The National Health Council (NHC) engaged Lake Research Partners to evaluate the patient experience for exchange enrollees with chronic conditions. Their research showed people with chronic conditions understand the importance of having the right health insurance that meets their needs and that patients are conscientious shoppers. Yet no matter what kind of plan they purchased, patients didn’t feel they had all the needed information they wanted about the plans available through the exchanges. Click here to view the article. Click here to view the state progress reports.
3. Commentary: The Patient is in the Driver’s Seat
An intriguing article in Ashbury Park Press (A NJ-based affiliate of USA Today), clinical nurse educator Tamara Brown comments on the evolving nature of the doctor-patient relationship. “Imagine a doctor or nurse speaking with a patient. As you imagine the words being exchanged, who do you envision doing most of the talking? You most likely think of the physician mostly speaking. The patient may be respectfully nodding their head. However, the new age of healthcare sees things quite differently. The patient should be the one in this scenario taking the lead in talking or at least asking questions… Today, this has all changed as healthcare teams attempt to move toward a more patient-centered model. In the new model of care, the patients play an active role in their care. This means as the patient, be empowered to ask your healthcare team all the options available to you in your treatment plan. A treatment plan should be based on your concerns, preferences and values. A health plan of care should include goals that fit in with your lifestyle.” Click here to view the article.
4. Health IT Analytics: How Does an ACO Differ from the Patient-Centered Medical Home?
An article published last week on HealthITAnalytics.com examines the differences between the patient-centered medical home and the accountable care organization. “With alphabet soup like PCMH, ACO, MSSP, VBR, and FFS, it can sometimes be difficult to tell what the real differences are between the various quality and value-based reform options available to providers. After understanding what the patient-centered medical home is and how it’s structured, the next question to ask is how the PCMH model stacks up against another familiar initiative: the accountable care organization (ACO). In this installment of HealthITAnalytics.com’s practice transformation series, we will break down the differences between the patient-centered medical home and the accountable care organization...” Click here to view the article.
5. Applied Clinical Trials: FDA, Sponsors Look to Expand Patient Input to Clinical Trials
According to a report in Applied Clinical Trials, “Sanofi is building a strategic framework for ensuring patient-centricity, pointed out chief patient officer Anne Beal, who previously developed a ‘patient engagement rubric’ for the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI). The challenges are to ensure ‘patient readiness’ through training, to promote ‘researcher readiness’ of scientists and investigators; and to address legal and compliance rules that vary around the world.” Click here to view the article.
6. Wall Street Journal: Hepatitis C Drugs are Cost Effective, but Affordability is Another Matter
Ed Silverman of The Wall Street Journal’s ‘Pharmalot’ blog recently commented, “there is little argument the new batch of hepatitis C drugs can save lives. But the battle over cost has also raised concerns some patients are being denied access to treatment because decision makers – at government agencies and private insurers – are more focused on near-term budget goals.” Click here to view the article.
7. Healthcare IT News: FDA Must Make Smarter Use of Big Data
As reported last week by Healthcare IT News, “[last] Monday, the Bipartisan Policy Center kicked off its five-point ‘FDA: Advancing Medical Innovation’ initiative... ‘Our inefficient, less-than-modern, drug discovery and device approval process drives up cost and delays treatment,’ said the initiative's co-chair, former Senator Bill Frist. ‘We must accelerate the process of getting safe and effective drug and medical devices to patients.’” Click here to view the article.
8. HealthData Management: FDA's Sentinel System Harnesses Big Data to Monitor Medical Products
According to an article in HealthData Management, “the [FDA’s] Sentinel initiative for monitoring the safety of FDA-regulated drugs and other medical products is one of the largest uses of big data in healthcare, according to the regulatory agency’s outgoing commissioner Margaret Hamburg, M.D… ‘Real-world data provides a vital tool to monitor medical products in use in the marketplace,’ Hamburg testified March 10 before a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing on ‘Continuing America’s Leadership in Medical Innovation for Patients.’” Click here to view the article.
9. Fierce HealthIT: Geisinger Researchers Share Framework for Putting a Learning Health System into Practice
Susan Hall of Fierce HealthIT reported last week that “while the learning health system, so far, is largely theoretical, researchers with Geisinger Health System lay out a framework for making it a reality within the Danville, Pennsylvania-based organization in an article at eGEMs (Generating Evidence & Methods to improve patient outcomes)... The lack of a standard data model poses a potential roadblock for the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute's (PCORI) efforts develop a ‘network of networks’ to further comparative effectiveness research (CER), a Government Accountability Office report recently concluded.” Click here to view the article.
