Government officials typically say the flu shot is about 50-60 percent effective in preventing influenza. We’ve used that number ourselves, as recently as this month in the usual annual promo for flu vaccines. But health care researchers who count actual patients say it’s far, far less effective, more in the range of 1-3 percent. What’s the….
Continue ReadingQuality outcome measures
Suggested Reading: The Trendy Therapy That’s Growing Faster than Safety Allows
Although the potential for using stem cells to treat various disorders is exciting, the science is in its infancy and the therapy is far from a standard response for managing and curing disease, much less using it in more questionable contexts. But that hasn’t stopped some practitioners and patients from “early adapting” this complex science….
Continue ReadingMore Evidence that Breast Cancer Overtreatment Does Not Extend Life
An impressive study published last week strongly suggests that when it comes to a certain kind of breast cancer, early, aggressive intervention has no effect on a patient’s survival 10 years later. The research in JAMA Oncology reviewed the records of more than 100,000 women. After being diagnosed with ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS), the….
Continue ReadingHospitals Still Lag in Meeting Medicare’s Bounceback Standards
Bouncebacks are patients who get readmitted to the hospital less than a month after they’ve been sent home. You want to keep the rate low, because too many bounceback admissions means the hospital is discharging patients too soon. One element of the Affordable Care Act (ACA, or “Obamacare”) now in its fourth year is a….
Continue ReadingSorting the Treasure from the Junk in Medical Science News
There’s a lot of health news noise out there, as we regularly point out (for example, here and here). Readers of HealthNewsReview.org (HNR) have a leg up on everyone else when it comes to sorting the noise from the news about medicine and health. The site’s mission is to improve the public dialogue “about health….
Continue ReadingDo Fitness Trackers Work?
Getting more exercise and getting more out of your exercise are essential for anyone who wants to get fit and stay fit. Setting workout goals and remaining aware of them is part of the exercise prescription, which is why fitness trackers are so hot. But do they work? Nobody really knows. According to a story….
Continue ReadingWhat’s Your Surgeon’s Score for ‘Complication-Free’?
A newly launched website tracks the complication rates of about 17,000 surgeons across the country. The idea is to help patients choose the person who’s going to operate on them based on his or her safety and performance records in comparison with their peers. The database, Surgeon Scorecard, was established by ProPublica, the nonprofit investigative….
Continue ReadingSuggested Reading: When It Comes to Heart Attack, Speed Heals
In the 10-year period between 2003 and 2013, the U.S. death rate from coronary heart disease fell about 38%. In a long, anecdote-filled story that was part of its series on heart disease, the New York Times detailed how the decline reflects not only that we’re giving up cigarettes and controlling our cholesterol and blood….
Continue ReadingHow Does a Hospital Get Better Surgical Outcomes? Practice, Practice, Practice
When it comes to a higher rate of successful surgical outcomes, more appears to be more, according to a new survey of hospital procedures. The U.S. News & World Report on Hospital Quality says that hospitals that perform a higher volume of certain surgeries save more lives than those with a low volume of those….
Continue ReadingWhen Hospitals Focus on Patient Happiness Instead of Patient Safety
As part of the Affordable Care Act (“Obamacare”), Medicare payments to hospitals are based on several accountability factors including measurable quality outcomes and a more subjective “patient satisfaction” rating. No one would argue against satisfying patients, but a recent article in The Atlantic made the case that subjectivity is dangerous, and leads “hospitals to steer….
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