health care quality

WASHINGTON (AP) -- President Barack Obama's main idea for getting quality health care at less cost was in jeopardy Wednesday after key medical providers called his administration's initial blueprint so complex it's unworkable....

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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) today released a new report showing that the Affordable Care Act provides states with significant flexibility and resources to improve health care benefits and protect consumers.

Already, the law has provided or offered $2.8 billion in funding to states. This is a fraction of the total funding available under the law to help states implement new consumer protections, expand health coverage, and improve health care quality.

(The Hastings Center) The firestorm that followed the November 2009 release of guidelines that would have reduced use of screening mammograms in women aged 40 to 49 highlights challenges for implementing the findings of comparative effectiveness research (CER), according to a new analysis.

Meeting such challenges -- which may become more common due to increased funding for CER -- requires better communication to the public and stakeholders about evidence and its connection to health care quality and efficiency.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius issued the following statement on new reports on health care quality and health care disparities faced by racial, ethnic or income groups.

The new reports –  the 2009 National Healthcare Disparities Report and the National Healthcare Quality Report – were released today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $100 million in federal grant funds to 10 states to improve health care quality and delivery systems for children enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP).

Lest we be led into believing that healthcare IT is a tried and true, safe, proven technology:

Earlier this week, we noted that while executives at one University of California medical center were getting large bonuses supposedly for "improved patient health," the hospital was being cited for serious health care quality deficiencies.  Now, more stories have appeared that raise questions about the rationale for the generous bonuses handed out to multiple top hospital executives at University of California hospitals. 

We have frequently advocated the evidence-based medicine (EBM) approach to improve the care of individual patients, and to improve health care quality at a reasonable cost for populations.

Evidence-based medicine is not just medicine based on some sort of evidence. As Dr David Sackett, and colleagues wrote [Sackett DL, Rosenberg WM, Muir Gray JA, Haynes RB, Richardson WS.

Evidence-based medicine; what it is and what it isn't. BMJ 1996; 312: 71-72. Link here.

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On the heels of a nationwide study pointing to major discrepancies in patient care in hospitals across the U.S., the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation pledged $1 million to the Puget Sound Health Alliance to help improve health care quality.