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What We're Reading: Hospitals Are Throwing Out Organs and Refusing Transplants
What we're reading, August 11, 2016: hospitals are throwing out less-than-perfect organs and refusing transplants; why an increasing reliance on hospitalists is bad for comprehensive care; and removing the roadbloack to marijuana research.
Thousands of patients are losing the chance at potentially lifesaving transplants as hospitals throw out less-than-perfect organs. According to STAT, the fear that a poor surgical outcome from a transplant could result in a federal crackdown has led to the waste. Federal transplant standards are tied to federal hospital ratings and Medicare funding. Research has found an uptick in the number of people dropped from waiting lists since the standards were set in 2007.
In an article in New England Journal of Medicine, Richard Gunderman, MD, PhD, outlines why an increasing reliance on hospitalists is bad for comprehensive care. While the hospitalist model has led to reductions in length of stay, cost of hospitalization and readmission rates, it increases the number of physicians caring for a patient and diminishes the relationship between the patient and the physician. The model also leads to gaps that cause a failure to follow up on test results and treatment recommendations.
A new policy from the Obama administration would remove the roadblock to marijuana research. Currently, only one university has the authorization to grow marijuana for use in medical studies, but other universities could soon be allowed to grow the drug, reported The New York Times. So far, 25 states have approved the medical use of marijuana even though the research to back up treatments is thin.
Standard Criteria for Loss of Ambulation Needed in DMD
April 19th 2024A recent study suggests the differences between ambulation definitions for patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) can impact the identification of ambulant vs nonambulant individuals, and standard criteria across settings are needed.
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Navigating Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in National Health Plans
February 13th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.
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Early Involvement Critical in Treating Immunotherapy-Induced Overlap Syndrome
April 19th 2024A series of case studies reveals the importance of early diagnosis and involvement of special teams of clinicians when dealing with potential cases of overlap syndrome, which encompasses myocarditis, myasthenia gravis, and immune checkpoint inhibitor–related myositis.
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Drs Raymond Thertulien, Joseph Mikhael on Racial Disparities in Multiple Myeloma Care Access
December 28th 2023In the wake of the 2023 American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting and Exposition, Raymond Thertulien, MD, PhD, of Novant Health, and Joseph Mikhael, MD, MEd, FRCPC, FACP, chief medical officer of the International Myeloma Foundation, discussed health equity research highlights from the meeting and drivers of racial disparities in multiple myeloma outcomes.
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Government agencies have created an online portal for the public to report potential anticompetitive practices in health care; there are changes coming to the “boxed warning” section for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell therapies (CAR T) to highlight T-cell blood cancer risk; questions about the safety of obesity medications during pregnancy have arisen in women on them who previously struggled with fertility issues.
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