Highlighted Studies and Reports of the Week

News At A Glance

National Government relocates hundreds of children from Border Patrol station in Texas after reports of unsanitary conditions– More than 300 children were placed in the station that only had a capacity for 104. The children did not have access to sanitation and were sleeping on concrete floors. While they were recently relocated to other facilities after public outcry, some were brought back to the Texas facility.Carcinogens found in hypertension medication– Several generic forms of the hypertension drug valsartan have been recalled as drug manufacturers found traces of carcinogens. Recently, a pharmaceutical company found another probable carcinogen in the brand-name drug Diovan that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recommended as an alternative to the tainted generic drugs. The FDA will evaluate the findings. Joint Commission to require outpatient facilities to have antimicrobial stewardship programs for accreditation– The program includes a set of actions that the facilities must take in efforts to reduce the chance of antimicrobial resistance. The requirements will affect outpatient facilities that have been shown to frequently prescribe antimicrobials. Current administration is limiting coverage of climate change studies by US Department of Agriculture scientists–Some of the studies shed light on the best ways to reduce and reverse the impacts of practices that are exacerbating climate change. The administration argued that the studies’ conclusions were not based on sound scientific methodologies. Executive order requests Health and Human Services Department to create healthcare price transparency rules–The administration has requested the department to develop rules to require hospitals to disclose the actual prices that patients will have to pay before they receive the services. Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) gets first Chief Accreditation Officer– Dr. Lynne Kirk will begin her new role in September. The role will include the management of national accreditation standards for residency and fellowship programs.

June 26, 2019 | Issue 66

Healthcare

1. Study from the Journal of the AmericanMedical Association (JAMA) finds thatmarijuana use increased by fourpercentage points among pregnantwomen between 2002 to 2016.

2. Study from JAMA Oncology finds that 35percent of cancer survivors sufferedfrom chronic pain between 2016 and2017.

3. Study from The Journal of theInternational Association for the Study ofPain finds that body mass index in theoverweight range was associated withan 11 percent increased odds of long-term prescription opioid use.

4. Study from the Interactive Journal ofMedical Research finds that HIV patientsthat were given a seven-minuteeducational virtual reality (VR)experience through a headset weremore likely to display medicationadherence and have lower viral loadafter 101 days than patients who werenot given the education through VR.

5. Report by TransUnion Healthcare findsthat the average out-of-pockethealthcare expense for inpatient,outpatient, and emergency departmentshas increased by 12 percent between2017 and 2018.

6. Report by Kaiser Family Foundationfinds that 18 percent of all emergencyroom visits that took place in 2017involved at least one out-of-networkcharge. There was significantgeographic variation as Texas had thegreatest share of out-of-network chargesfrom an emergency visit at 35 percentand Minnesota had the smallest share at3 percent.

California

Other States

Board of Supervisors in San Francisco temporarily bans e-cigarettes that are not FDA approved– In May, the FDA had been ordered by a federal judge to speed up reviews for e-cigarettes that are already on the market. There has been a large increase in youth vaping recently, and e-cigarette products have been allowed on the market without regulations. San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors says the ban is to protect consumers and the youth. California governor’s new mental health advisor says the state’s mental health system is heavily fragmented– With each of the 58 counties having their own public mental health program, there is no centralized system or oversight for equitable treatment and access. The decentralized system came about from 1991 budget constraints that led to shifting the responsibility from the state to the counties. The advisor is looking to create a set of specific goals for mental health outcomes and strategies to achieve them. Department of Public Health issues more than $400,000 in fines for eight hospitals that were out of compliance– Hospitals were cited for things like medical errors that led to patient deaths and lack of oversight in situations where patients committed suicide. Kaiser Permanente to fund three firearm studies– Each study will last two years and focus on various aspects of firearm violence and prevention. The company will invest $2 million in this endeavor.

New Hampshire Department of Corrections expands program to provide medically assisted treatment for inmates– The healthcare team began screening inmates in one state prison and enrolled 23 people to receive treatments for opioid and alcohol use disorders. Two other prisons in the state will begin this process soon. The funding is from an opioid response grant provided through the state’s Department of Health and Human Services. Georgia’s Department of Community Health to reinstate Medicaid benefits to low-income elderly and disabled people– Nearly 17,000 beneficiaries lost their Medicaid benefits after the state disenrolled them for not renewing on time. State officials claim the notifications were sent out, but many residents reported only receiving the notice of cancellation, not the renewal notice. The benefits will be reinstated, and the state will restart the renewal process. Massachusetts lawmakers ban sales of some hemp products– The Massachusetts Department of Agricultural Resources issued guidelines including a ban on the sale of cannabidiol (CBD)-infused food products, hemp in animal feed, and unprocessed hemp products. Hemp seeds, hemp clothing, and hemp oil are not included in the ban. Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee to create the Center for Improving the Public’s Health Using Informatics– The center will involve a state and national public health agency collaboration to create, research, and analyze informatics that assist with healthcare data exchange, data integration, and medical product surveillance. The center will be directed by two professors from Vanderbilt University. Illinois becomes eleventh state to legalize recreational marijuana usage– The state’s governor signed the bill this week, and it will go into effect next year. The legislature approved commercial sales, making Illinois the first state to do so. Growers and sellers will require a state license, and the legal age for consumption is set to 21 years or older. Florida governor signs bill to keep the elimination of the 90-day Medicaid retroactive eligibility for another year– In a cost-saving effort, the Florida legislature removed the 90-day retroactive eligibility under Medicaid last year. Once again, this year, non-pregnant adults will only receive coverage for the month that they apply for Medicaid. The bill also calls for agency reports regarding the effects of the changes to this eligibility from last year on patients and providers. Corporation for Supportive Housing identifies reimbursement opportunities for homeless individuals in Montana– The report also finds gaps in available services. The Montana Healthcare Foundation will be working with housing and health care providers as well as local leaders to determine how to effectively use Medicaid to provide services and support for the homeless through the findings in this report.

Oral Health

Hunger as a Health

Issue

Mental/Behavioral

Health

If you would like to subscribe to our weekly newsletter, please click here.

Newsbytes Relevant to Our Strategic Priorities

Healthcare Polls and Surveys

To bring focus to our work, the Institute for Health Policy and Leadership has identified three strategic priorities: oral health, mental health and hunger as a health issue. This segment highlights news articles relevant to these priorities.

43% Percentage of people with high blood pressure who believe that medications cannot help decrease their blood pressure according to a survey by the American Medical Association and the American Heart Association.

78% Percentage of US citizens who believe that a single-payer system such as Medicare for All would increase taxes according to a poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation.

81% Percentage of people who reported that health insurance companies were responsible for the surprise billing costs instead of hospitals and physicians according to a poll by Morning Consult.

FDI World Dental Federation releases oral health resources and guidelines for athletes and sports organizations in time for major sporting events– The organization represents over one million dentists and dental health professionals from 130 countries. The group warned that there are multiple oral health conditions that can arise from sports such as oral injuries, trauma, dehydration and dry mouth, and dental caries from sports drinks. The organization says that oral health should be a top priority for athletes who want to win.

Massachusetts’ Food Is Medicine State Plan outlines ways that community providers can use food as medicine for chronic conditions– With one in ten households in the state struggling with food insecurity, the plan was created to identify the gaps between food service providers and healthcare providers in order to integrate the services as the Medicaid program shifts into an Accountable Care Organization.

First Responders in South Carolina (SC) try to get workers' compensation for mental health conditions– A Charleston, SC, news outlet reported on a study that indicated that first responders have five times higher odds of suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder than other professions. A former county sheriff was working to push a bill through the legislature to get mental health coverage through workers' compensation, but the bill failed in the State Senate.