One way hospitals are working to improve outcomes for patients in the intensive care unit is by taking steps to better include family members and caregivers in care decisions and accommodate them in the ward...
Gutierrez, who was diagnosed with breast cancer last spring, had surgery and 10 weeks of chemotherapy. But the cancer is still there. Now Dr. Jasmine Wong, a surgeon at UC San Francisco, is explaining the choices – Gutierrez can either have another lumpectomy followed by radiation, or she can get a total mastectomy.
“I think both options are reasonable,” Wong said. “It’s just a matter of how you feel personally about preserving your breast, how you feel about having radiation therapy.”
Primary care practices must prepare for patient activation and care coordination
The healthcare breakthrough of the 21st century may not come in the form of a miracle drug from the pharmaceutical industry. Rather, it's more likely to emerge from the ways caregivers interact and motivate patients.
Characterizing patients as non-compliant has long been an excuse for physicians not fully engaging people, but that needs to change, according to Bruce Bagley, MD, CEO of TransforMED, an organization devoted to helping medical practices transition to the patient-centered medical home model.
According to Brenda Reiss-Brennan, PhD, mental health integration director for Intermountain Healthcare, the first step toward integrating behavioral health into primary care is to stop thinking of patients with mental health issues as “other.”
Patient-centered medical home practices spend about a third more per patient than non–medical home practices but earn nearly twice as much per patient after operating costs, the Medical Group Management Association reported.
Proposed legislation introduced in the U.S. House calls for Medicare to pilot a reimbursement mechanism for accountable care organizations based on outcomes and encourages ACO use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring services.
Rep. Diane Black (R-TN), a registered nurse for 40 years, sponsors The ACO Improvement Act (H.R. 5558) along with Rep. Peter Welch (D-VT). Both serve on powerful committees--Black on Ways & Means and Welch on Energy & Commerce.
It requires an investment in time, money and a lot of work behind the scenes, but industry officials said they’re optimistic that a more coordinated approach to primary care can both cut costs in the long run and lead to healthier outcomes for patients.
Integrating promotion of online patient portals into primary care visits appears to be the most effective way to increase portal usage, according to a Virginia Commonwealth University-led study published in the Annals of Family Medicine.
Researchers also found that 1 out of 3 patients aged 60-69 utilized the portals--the highest rate of any age group studied.
