"Health & Medical News"

From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

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A global strategy for reducing the harm associated with alcohol use will be issued within the next two years by the World Health Organization (WHO), Reuters reported Jan. 25.

The WHO’s executive board announced that the strategy would tackle a broad range of alcohol-related problems, from liver problems and sexually transmitted diseases to auto crashes. Prevention recommendations would be issued for “all at-risk populations such as young people and those affected by the harmful drinking of others,” according to Fadela Chaib, a WHO spokesperson.

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The movement to align patient safety and payment seems to be picking up a full head of steam. Hospitals and payers are coalescing around the idea that no one should get paid for so-called never events — serious reportable events, such as wrong-site surgery, that kill or maim patients.

Perhaps most significantly, the BlueCross BlueShield Assn. announced in November 2007 that its plans will work toward ending payment for never events. The change will be phased in over several years as the Blues alters its coding and claims processes. A spokesman said adoption will vary among the 39 Blues plans, which insure more than 100 million people, because the change requires renegotiating contracts and securing agreements from local physicians and hospitals.

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A study by the National Alliance to End Homelessness finds that about one in four homeless Americans are veterans, and that more veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are starting to show up in homeless shelters and soup kitchens, the Associated Press reported Nov. 7.

Veterans comprise about 11 percent of the general U.S. population.

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