There is a lot of talk in health care these days about transparency and the need for business practices to be transparent. According to my well-worn Webster’s, the definition of transparent includes: “sheer enough to be seen through; free from pretense or deceit; readily understood; obvious.” We need more transparency in health care, especially as we consider changes in how health care is delivered and paid for. PBMs and pharmaceutical companies are already moving toward greater transparency.
The pathogen Toxoplasma gondii is an intracellular protozoan that most commonly presents in persons with AIDS as reactivation of latent infection.
The combined 48th Interscience Conference on Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy/46th Infectious Diseases Society of America Annual Meeting (ICAAC/IDSA) was held in Washington, DC, from October 24 to 28, 2008.
Many clinicians are not screening patients for HIV as a routine part of health care because they perceive testing takes too much time and because many insurers are reluctant to reimburse for the procedure.
Lymphoma is a well-known complication of HIV infection. Such AIDS-defining lymphomas are usually aggressive B-cell lymphomas. However, epidemiological data have also linked HIV infection with an increased risk of T-cell lymphoma.
Every think tank and every policy wonk in the country is working on white papers, analyses, proposals, critiques, and plans in the hope that their ideas will be placed before the new president and the new Congress.
Cocaine and amphetamine intoxication continue to be common causes of emergency department and hospital admissions.
These joint deformities occurred in a 61-year-old man with chronic tophaceous gout. The patient had had joint pain and swelling since he was 40 years old; the symptoms began in 2 fingers and were initially mild. He did not seek medical attention. Within 5 to 10 years, joint abnormalities had developed in the fingers and then in the left elbow and right ankle. The toes were not affected. He had no family history of joint pain or swelling. Serum uric acid level was 9.7 mg/dL.
For several months, a 45-year-old woman had ocular irritation, tearing, blurred vision, and swelling of the eyelids in both eyes. During that time, she had been treated for allergic conjunctivitis and blepharitis by several physicians, including an ophthalmologist. Her medical history included lupus and seasonal allergies, for which she was taking hydroxychloroquine and loratadine.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH)-histologically defined as stromal and epithelial hyperplasia beginning in the periurethral transitional zone of the prostate-affects up to 80% of 80-year-old men.[1,2] With progressive prostatic enlargement, bladder outlet obstruction can result. Although the exact mechanism is unknown, lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) can signal progressive BPH.
Patients frequently present with symptoms they describe as “carpal tunnel syndrome.” When a patient complains of this syndrome, I often use a modified paper clip to test 2-point discrimination in all digits.
Penicillin-induced neurotoxicity was first recognized by Johnson and Walker in 1945 after intraventricular administration of benzylpenicillin.1,2 Subsequently, the β-lactams have been shown to have a higher rate of CNS effects than other classes of antibiotics.3,4
It is with great pleasure that we welcome Dr Kaplan to our Editorial Board. His commitment to teaching primary care medicine makes him well qualified to serve as one of our key advisors.
An 89-year-old woman is seen because of a white area on the tongue. She has been hospitalized on a behavioral health unit for 2 weeks; 1 day ago, enoxaparin was begun for a new left leg deep venous thrombosis. Recent antibiotic therapy for a urinary tract infection; candidal vulvitis followed and was treated with topical clotrimazole. Has penicillin allergy.
Hypertension affects approximately 73.6 million persons in the United States or one-third of the adult population. This is an increase from 72 million persons in 2007, 65 million persons in 2002, and 50 million US adults in 1994 (or one-third, 29%, and 25% of the adult population, respectively).
Despite clear evidence of its benefits, widespread adoption of electronic prescribing (ePrescribing) has been slow. The vast majority of prescriptions are still written by hand, a process plagued with errors and inefficiencies. The Southeast Michigan ePrescribing Initiative (SEMI), a collaborative effort of employers, health plans, physician groups, and others, was launched in 2005 to speed the adoption of ePrescribing. SEMI has accomplished much in 4 years, enrolling more than 3000 physicians who have transmitted nearly 9.5 million electronic prescriptions while improving patient safety and winning over physicians. (Drug Benefit Trends. 2009;21:23-26)
Influenza develops in about 20% of the global population each year. In the United States, annual influenza epidemics typically occur between late December and early March. While influenza may affect persons of any age, infection rates are highest among children.
Former Senate Majority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D, SD) will become the nation’s health care policy czar with enormous influence on health care policy and reform. In addition to being named secretary of the vast 65,000-employee Department of Health & Human Services (HHS)-home of the FDA, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), and the NIH-
Most US adults still rely on word-of-mouth and physician recommendations when selecting health care providers despite an increase in health care price and quality transparency initiatives, according to findings of a study by the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) released on December 4. HSC interviewed 13,500 adults for its nationally representative 2007 Health Tracking Household Survey. The study was funded by the California HealthCare Foundation.
Generic drug utilization has reached its highest levels to date-60.4% for retail prescriptions and 49.3% for mail-service prescriptions (Cover Figure), while pharmacy reimbursement continues its downward trend.