Maryland wins $9.3M in stimulus funds for e-health records

Recent health Articles, Events, Jobs, and Resources.

CONTENTS

1. Article: Maryland wins $9.3M in stimulus funds for e-health records
2. Article: Officials move to raise 2010 Census response rates
3. Article/Poll: You get weighed at the doctor's office. Then what?
4. Commentary: Obama's illusions of cost control
5. Commentary: Health care reform questions for your representatives
6. Commentary: Sunshine -- a national campaign for open government
7. Commentary: Going too far to battle HIV/AIDS
8. Editorial: Health care reform vote deserves a reasonable process
9. Editorial Cartoon: Obama's health care sundae
10. Editorial Sketch: Obama and health care
11. Letter to Editor: Finding a primary care doctor
12. Obituary: Edward Yates; HHS official

ARTICLE SUMMARIES

1. Article: Maryland wins $9.3M in stimulus funds for e-health records
By Scott Dance, Washington Business Journal, March 15, 2010

Summary: The Maryland Health Care Commission will receive $9.3 million in federal stimulus money to build an exchange for electronic health records. The money will go toward an ongoing project to develop the system. Nonprofit organization Chesapeake Regional Information System for our Patients is in charge of that endeavor, with $10 million from hospital rate payments as initial funding. These funds will accelerate Maryland's innovative HIT partnership between government and health care providers and allow them to get health information into the hands of clinicians when and where they need it, said Maryland Department of Health and Mental Hygiene Secretary John Colmers. The money is coming through the federal Department of Health and Human Services. Patients and doctors need better access to information technology and a more robust platform to share important information, according to Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown. This federal support will go a long way to build on the successful programs many hospitals and practices have already implemented and will, in the long run, save patients, insurers, and taxpayers money. The exchange could benefit as many as 4,000 physician practices, with no more than nine doctors, in Maryland.  |  Read article

2. Article: Officials move to raise 2010 Census response rates
By Carol Morello, The Washington Post, March 16, 2010

Summary: As the 2010 Census lands in 120 million mailboxes this week, officials are making a final push to encourage people to complete the forms, which have been streamlined to 10 questions. They're running ads, setting up booths at community events, and dispatching canvassers to talk up the decennial count. With many communities hit hard by the recession and more than $400 billion in federal aid at stake, making sure residents get counted matters more than ever to budget-strapped local officials. Those who don't fill out the questionnaires are apt to get a personal visit from a census taker, an expensive undertaking that could add $1.5 billion to census costs this year. The Census Bureau will post daily updates by jurisdiction as the forms come in, hoping to drive an extra effort where responses lag. Census officials are worried about neighborhoods considered hard to count. Attitudes toward the census are mixed. Some residents regard it with suspicion; others hope it'll generate money for hospitals, infrastructure, and schools in the community. Poorer communities distrust government when it comes to services or quality-of-life issues. Myths about the count are widely held in the District, where just 65% of residents responded to the 2000 Census. People fear that providing personal information will bring authorities to their doors over unpaid parking tickets, having too many people living in a house, or calls from telemarketers.  |  Read article

3. Article/Poll: You get weighed at the doctor's office. Then what?
The Washington Post, The Checkup, March 17, 2010

Summary: It's one of the worst parts of any routine visit to the doctor's office: You take off your shoes and stand on the scale, usually out in a hallway, and wait for the bad news. The nurse scribbles the number down on your chart, maybe making note of your height, too. And then what happens? In most cases, apparently, nothing much. The STOP (Strategies to Overcome and Prevent) Obesity Alliance recently released some research data, which showed that while the vast majority (89%) of the 290 primary care physicians surveyed felt responsible for helping patients manage their weight, most (72%) say they lack the resources and training to effectively counsel their overweight and obese patients. And while most of the 1,002 adults surveyed separately said they take responsibility for their own weight, most don't feel they receive adequate weight management guidance from their physicians. Of those with a BMI of 30 or above -- the standard cutoff for obesity -- only 39% said a health care professional had ever told them they were obese. Of those who had been told they were obese, almost 90% were told they should lose weight, but only a third were offered guidance on how to do so. For more info, read: Improving Obesity Management in Adult Primary Care.  |  Read article/Vote in poll

4. Commentary: Obama's illusions of cost-control
By Robert J. Samuelson, The Washington Post, March 15, 2010

Summary: It's said that the uninsured use emergency rooms for primary care, which is expensive and ineffective. But once they're insured, they'll have regular doctors. Care will improve; costs will decline. But it's untrue. The insured account for 83% of ER visits, reflecting their share of the population. After Massachusetts adopted universal insurance, ER use remained higher than the national average. More than two-fifths of visits represented non-emergencies. A majority of adults said it was more convenient to go to the ER or they couldn't get a doctor's appointment as soon as needed. If universal coverage makes appointments harder to get, ER use may increase. You probably think that insuring the uninsured will dramatically improve the nation's health. The uninsured don't get care or don't get it soon enough. With insurance, they won't be shortchanged; they'll be healthier. Expanding health insurance would result, at best, in modest health gains. Studies of insurance's effects on health are hard to perform. Some find benefits; others don't. Medicare's introduction in 1966 produced no reduction in mortality; some studies of extensions of Medicaid for children didn't find gains. Claims that the uninsured suffer tens of thousands of premature deaths are open to question. The lack of health insurance has no more impact on your health than lack of flood insurance. Possible explanations include: (a) many uninsured are fairly healthy -- about two-fifths are age 18 to 34; (b) some are too sick to be helped or have problems rooted in personal behaviors -- smoking, diet, drinking, or drug abuse; and (c) the uninsured already receive 50-70% of the care of the insured from hospitals, clinics, and doctors. Covering the uninsured isn't the health care system's major problem. The big problem is uncontrolled spending, which prices people out of the market and burdens government budgets. When people get insurance, they use more health services and spending rises. Unless we change the fee-for-service system, costs will remain hard to control because providers are paid more for doing more. Whatever their sins, insurers are mainly intermediaries; they pass along the costs of the delivery system. Obama's plan evades health care's major problems and would worsen the budget outlook. Pass or not, Obama's proposal is the illusion of reform -- not the real thing.  |  Read commentary

5. Commentary: Questions for your representative
By Dr. Milton R. Wolf, The Washington Times, March 16, 2010

Summary: As a practicing radiologist, and Barack Obama's second cousin, Dr. Wolf decided to go public with his opposition to the president's health care reform plans. Dr. Wolf and his senator, Dennis Moore (D-Kan.), agree on many points -- but he still intends to vote for the Senate health care bill. Many backroom deals are tucked into the nooks and crannies of this health care bill. Moore's vote may make his constituents pay the medical bills of those in other states. This bill establishes a new Independent Medicare Advisory Board that's required to recommend Medicare cuts to limit resources going to patients. A scheme in this bill actually penalizes your primary care physician if s/he is in the top 10% of doctors who refer patients to specialists, no matter how valid the reason. This ignores the expert opinion of the family care physician. It doesn't consider the need of the patient. It simply establishes an arbitrary percentage of doctors who'll be penalized. The Senate health bill contains a 40% excise tax on comprehensive insurance plans. Two-and-a-half trillion dollars in new spending -- this Senate plan costs $7,100 for each person. Surely there's room for tort reform in a 2,700-page health reform bill or the 2,900-page reconciliation shell?  |  Read commentary

6. Commentary: Got Sunshine? A National Campaign for Open Government
By Catherine Bertram, Regan Zambri & Long, PLLC, DC Metro Area Medical Malpractice Law Blog, March 16, 2010

Summary: Sunshine laws help keep our government accountable and transparent by mandating access to meetings and information. During Sunshine Week, journalists and others shine a light on the spirit and intent of sunshine laws. Each state has laws to keep public meetings and documents public. The Freedom of Information Act is one example. In DC, advocates for patient safety are pushing for access to information that would promote patient safety and allow consumers to choose between hospitals based on available data such as the infection rate of each hospital or the complication rates for certain procedures. The hospitals have this data readily available. This information should be available to DC patients and their families. More than half of the states have mandatory reporting requirements for hospital infections. No such requirement exists in the District. We need to support the DC Council and Mayor Adrian Fenty when they push for this legislation. Then we can determine whether the DC Department of Health is doing all they can to make sure all the hospitals in DC work to reduce the number of hospital acquired infections.  |  Read commentary

7. Commentary: Going too far to battle disease
By Terry Michael, The Washington Times, March 17, 2010

Summary: A pharmaceutical experiment on hundreds of mostly black homosexual men and heterosexual women in Washington is about to be undertaken by U.S. AIDS czar Dr. Anthony Fauci with the backing of Mayor Adrian Fenty. The experiment radically departs from medical best practices of offering antiretroviral chemotherapy for life to HIV-positive persons only after they exhibit depressed levels of CD4 T-cells and are judged to be at significant risk of contracting opportunistic illnesses associated with AIDS. The new effort -- test and treat -- will promote universal voluntary antibody testing of adults accompanied by immediate administration of the drugs despite a wealth of evidence that the chemicals often cause serious adverse side effects -- potentially life-threatening effects. The experiment isn't focused on individual impact, but suggests that the goal is a benefit that might accrue to society if the chemicals decrease sexual retrovirus transmission. Dr. Fauci and his director of HIV programs, Carl Dieffenbach, announced the experiment with Fenty as part of a larger, $26.4 million study to combat what the District's HIV/AIDS agency claims is a generalized epidemic affecting 3% of adults and adolescents. Their test and treat approach predicts that with implementation of an annual voluntary universal HIV testing program for persons older than 15 years and with immediate initiation of antiretroviral therapy for those individuals who test positive regardless of their CD4 T-cell count or viral load, the HIV pandemic could be reduced within 10 years.  |  Read commentary

8. Editorial: Health-reform vote deserves a reasonable process
The Washington Post, March 16, 2010

Summary: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is leaning toward a parliamentary maneuver under which the House would vote on a package of changes to the Senate-approved health care reform bill, and the underlying Senate bill would then be deemed to have passed, even though the House never voted on it. That may help some House members dodge a politically difficult decision, but it's a dodgy way to reform the health care system. Democrats who vote for the package will be tagged with supporting the Senate bill in any event. So, why not be straightforward about it? More worrying is that Congress and the country have yet to see the changes. These changes -- the so-called reconciliation bill -- aren't all minor fixes; some could have far-reaching consequences. Such changes deserve to be fully understood and debated before they are voted on. The week-long conversation that Pelosi promised to have with members is taking place and that they're waiting for the final word from the Congressional Budget Office before releasing the package. Lawmakers and the public will have 72 hours to consider the changes. But why be so secretive about it? Any number of measures -- including versions of the health care bill itself -- have been unveiled without CBO scores. The Democrats' need for speed doesn't outweigh the need for a reasonable process on a matter of such importance.  |  Read editorial

9. Editorial Cartoon: Health Care Sundae
By Nate Beeler, The Washington Examiner, March 15, 2010

Summary: President Obama is whipping the vote… now pass the cherries…  |  View cartoon

10. Editorial Sketch: Obama and Health Care
By Tom Toles, The Washington Post, March 16, 2010

Summary: "I don't want to sound overconfident, but…"  |  View sketch

11. Letter to Editor: Finding a doctor
By Mary Fraker (Washington), The Washington Post, March 16, 2010

Summary: Fraker was sympathetic with "young, healthy, insured" Ruth Samuelson's doctor-less plight ["Having health insurance doesn't ensure it will be easy to find a doctor"] until she read the words that she fears could be used as an argument against health care reform: "If Congress eventually . . . gives coverage to millions more people . . . an influx of patients will overwhelm a system already crippled by a well-documented dearth of primary-care physicians." The shortage of such doctors is indeed a real and growing problem, and to her credit, Samuelson cites two experts' recommendations for beginning to solve it. Continuing to deny basic, often life-saving, health care coverage to millions of Americans, however, isn't the solution. If Samuelson were among those uninsured millions, her quest for a doctor wouldn't be over yet -- and would eventually lead to whoever is on duty the day she finds herself in an ER.  |  Read letter (scroll down)

12. Obituary: Edward J. Yates HHS Official
By Matt Schudel, The Washington Post, March 17, 2010

Summary: Edward Yates, 73, who held a variety of social work and administrative jobs in the Department of Health and Human Services, died Feb. 16 of bladder cancer at his home in Washington. Yates began his career as a social worker for a DC government youth agency in the early 1960s and was associate director of social services for the DC government's Medicaid office from 1968 to 1970. He joined a forerunner of HHS in 1970 and worked in the Medicaid and minority affairs offices before serving as a liaison between technical and program branches of the agency when a new computer system was being installed in the 1990s. He retired in 1995. Edward Joseph Yates was born in Portsmouth, Va., and graduated from Norfolk State University. After serving as a chaplain's assistant in the Army, he received a master's degree in social work from Howard University in 1963. He was a deacon at Riverside Baptist Church in Southwest Washington and was a volunteer for many years with the Washington Humane Society, helping find adoptive homes for cats and dogs.  |  Read obituary (scroll down)

EVENTS

Art with a Heart 2010
Thursday, March 18th, 6:30 pm
Capital Hilton
1001 - 16th Street NW
Art with a Heart, now in its 20th year, is Bread for the City's signature fundraising event. Purchase your tickets online, or learn more about sponsorship opportunities. The 2009 Art with a Heart took place on March 19, and was a tremendous success. Attendees raised over $260,000 to benefit Bread for the City.

1st Annual U.S. Conference on African Immigrant Health
Wednesday, April 7th, 8:30 am - Sunday, April 11th, 9:30 am
Marietta, GA
The USCAIH 2010 will encompass the following elements that are considered critical in addressing health disparities in the African Diaspora: health disparities reduction; policy change; existing national connections, partners, collaborators; existing relationships for governments and institutions; community networking and outreach; cultural needs, beliefs, and practices; grassroots focus; and the impact of war, torture, and trauma. The USCAIH 2010 will utilize the African Village Square Forum -- a format that allows agencies, service providers, policymakers, scientists, and other stakeholders to engage in result-oriented discussions on public health issues, to network, and to celebrate the diverse cultures of the African Diaspora. Eliminating health disparities in our communities will take a concerted effort of all of us interested in a healthy and productive citizenry. The USCAIH 2010 seeks to bring people together under one roof for a three-day focused and intensive overview of the multifaceted nature of these disparities and how the African immigrant community is uniquely affected. Participants will come out of this conference with a meaningful and practical to-do-list for the various stakeholders. AHADI is proud to collaborate with Office of Minority Health, Office of Minority Health Resource Center, and other sponsors to host this conference. For more info, contact This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it Rajab-Gyagenda, Ph.D., Alliance for Health in the African Diaspora, Inc., at (404) 798-7548 or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

More Events...

JOBS

Nursing Faculty Positions / Nursing Certificate Programs
University System of the District of Columbia Community College
Seeking RNs licensed in the District of Columbia as part-time clinical and didactic instructors for Practical Nursing, Nursing Assistant, and Home Health Aide.  (Times and days are based on assignments.) Requirements: Minimum BSN; Current DC RN license; and American Heart Association CPR certification. E-mail resume to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it or fax to (202) 274-6509.

Health Quality Improvement Manager, DCPCA

Senior Policy Coordinator, DCPCA

Senior Grants Writer/Specialist, DCPCA

More Job Postings...

RESOURCES

BOOK
Becoming a Doctor: From Student to Specialist, Doctor-Writers Share Their Experiences
(Lee Gutkind, editor, Arizona State University, Norton, $26.95)
It seems unjust that a person should be endowed with a mind that can craft beautiful sentences and master all the information needed to graduate from medical school. But that's the case with many of the physician writers in "Becoming a Doctor," a collection of essays.  The 19 doctors contribute their tales of the passage from intern to specialist -- and all the insecurities, triumphs, and sleep deprivation therein. The book humanizes the figure in the lab coat with various passages. For more info, read: Health Scan, Medical Education, by Rachel Saslow, The Washington Post, March 16, 2010.

More Resources...

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