"Health & Medical News"

Richard Smith at the BMJ Blog wrote about last week’s Private Sector Health Systems conference [program PDF] in Wilton Park. The full text is at the BMJ, but here’s my summary. In many developing countries, the poor are much more likely to use private providers than public sector, if they use healthcare at all.

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Washington — An electronic medical records system connecting patients in New York is one step closer to reality after Gov. David A. Paterson awarded $105 million in grants on March 28 to 19 community-based health information technology projects.

The grants are part of a statewide effort to implement health IT and improve health care, said New York State Health Commissioner Richard F. Daines, MD. “For the first time, thousands of patients in New York will have access to their own complete electronic medical records, and their doctors will be able to access medical information through a few clicks of a mouse,” he said.

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This is an interesting story GE redesigning an EKG machine (the last one of which they made in 1999) for a place like India. The have also been advertising a lot on TV - I was able to find the ad on YouTube which is pretty cool. Four things immediately struck me:

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One physician’s faxed order to discontinue hydrocodone, marketed as Anexsia, was misread by the pharmacist as an order to discontinue Arixtra, an anticoagulant. Another doctor intended to electronically order clonidine, an antihypertensive, but accidentally ordered the sedative clonazepam because both appeared as “CLON” on the computer screen.

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Physicians say a Missouri Supreme Court ruling, though narrow, recognizes the significance of medical staff bylaws and offers doctors some recourse in the face of unfair discipline.

Breaking with a 43-year-old precedent, a unanimous high court opened the door for medical staff members to sue hospitals over privileging disputes if the facilities fail to follow staff bylaws. Justices departed from a long-held principle that hospital privileging decisions were not subject to judicial review, noting that was the “nationwide majority rule” at the time of the high court’s 1965 decision.

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Washington — Higher-than-expected costs and enrollment in Massachusetts’ health reform program are translating into higher premiums and co-payments for enrollees and a concern physicians will face pay cuts.

The Connector Authority, the board overseeing the state’s comprehensive health system reform program, unanimously agreed on March 20 to raise monthly premiums by 10% for its subsidized health plans starting July 1, the beginning of the state’s 2009 fiscal year.

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Washington — The House has set the stage for potentially tough congressional negotiations on mental health parity by adopting broader legislation than the Senate.

The Paul Wellstone Mental Health and Addiction Equity Act of 2007, which the House passed 268-148 on March 5, would strengthen existing law by requiring insurers to provide out-of-network mental health coverage if insurers offer out-of-network physical health benefits. Among other provisions, it also would require companies offering mental health benefits to cover illnesses in the Read the rest of this entry »