"Health & Medical News"

Washington — Medicare’s first run at incorporating chronic care management techniques into the program is closing at the end of this year, with most observers already describing the effort as a false start.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services launched the Medicare Health Support pilot project three years ago with high hopes. By hiring eight private disease management firms to set up voluntary chronic care improvement programs for beneficiaries, CMS aimed to improve health care quality while lowering costs. At one point more than 150,000 seniors were enrolled in the programs.

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A few years ago, an extremely sick, 2??-year-old boy came to the Houston office of pediatrician Ray Wagner, MD, with a 105-degree temperature. The illness, which required five days of hospitalization and a course of intravenous antibiotics, got its start in an infected tooth; which, in turn, resulted from poor dental hygiene and a lack of dental care. Dr. Wagner, who was then an assistant professor at the University of Texas Medical School, decided to use this case as a hook for an educational session on oral health.

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Increased community-based addiction treatment could help trim growing prison expenses in Vermont, according to a group of four Democratic members of the Vermont Senate.

The Vermont Press Bureau reported Jan. 17 that the lawmakers unveiled a plan to close down a prison in Waterbury, convert another to a women’s-only facility, and use a third as a program for offenders with alcohol and other drug problems. The broader overhaul of the state’s prison system would emphasize providing treatment to addicted offenders in community settings rather than sending them to state prisons.

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