People not using hearings aids despite hearing loss
Millions of people with hearing loss are not using hearing aids, according to new research by Johns Hopkins scientists.
Nearly 6.7 million Americans age 50 and older have hearing loss, but only one in seven uses a hearing aid, according to the new research. The Hopkins researchers said it shows how under treated hearing loss is. It is the most expansive data analysis on the subject ever.
"Understanding current rates of hearing loss treatment is important, as evidence is beginning to surface that hearing loss is associated with poorer cognitive functioning and the risk of dementia," study senior investigator, otologist and epidemiologist Frank Lin said in a statement. "Previous studies that have attempted to estimate hearing aid use have relied on industry marketing data or focused on specific groups that don't represent a true sample of the United States population."
The study used data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, a research program that has periodically gathered health information from thousands of Americans since 1971. Participants answered questions about whether they used a hearing aid and had their hearing tested. The studied covered the period from 1999 to 2006.
The findings were published online in the Archives of Internal Medicine online.
They showed that only 14 percent of adults with hearing loss use hearing aids.
Lin said many with hearing loss don't using hearing aids because health insurance often does not cover the costs and because they aren't trained to use the devices. People also don't consider hearing loss a big deal.
"There's still a perception among the public and many medical professionals that hearing loss is an inconsequential part of the aging process and you can't do anything about it," Lin said. "We want to turn that idea around."
Some funding for the study was provided by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
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Read More»State audits the rates for health insurance
By Jonathan D. Epstein, The Buffalo News, N.Y.
Feb. 16--New York State insurance regulators have launched an industry-wide audit of health insurance premium rates, seeking to examine the accuracy of the data used by insurers and HMOs as the basis for their rate requests.
The state's "wide-ranging probe" will include on-site audits of health plans that are regulated by the state, including those sold to small businesses and directly to individuals in the "community-rated" market.
The audits will examine data about claims, insurer administrative costs, premiums and claims reserves. The state, which will hire a private accounting firm to help, will examine selected rate requests that have already been filed, but insurers will not know in advance if their proposal will be included in an audit.
"At a time when spiraling health insurance costs are an incredible burden for working people, it is essential that we ensure that rate requests are based on fair, accurate information that has not been manipulated," said Superintendent of Financial Services Benjamin Lawsky. "These in-depth audits will allow us to drill down underneath the numbers to make sure they are accurate."
Among other things, he said, regulators can look at whether insurers are accurately allocating administrative costs and broker commissions. They will also ensure that insurers have proper controls and oversight so that the data is reliable and accurate. "The audits may also help us identify areas where we can take measures to help control costs," Lawsky added.
But insurers and their trade group said the new audits would be redundant and would miss the bigger cause of rising health insurance premiums: the "soaring cost of medical care," not administrative costs. They cautioned that the added rules and burdens imposed by the state would contribute to rising premiums.
"The Department of Financial Services already has broad regulatory authority over plans, including the prior-approval process and regular audits it conducts of health plans," said Leslie Moran, spokeswoman for the New York Health Plan Association in Albany. "This new level of audits announced today seems duplicative, unnecessary and wasteful of taxpayer dollars."
Read More»New Virginia report details costs of health services
By Prue Salasky, Daily Press, Newport News, Va.
Feb. 15--Virginians will now have clearer information on which to base their health care decisions. Virginia Health Information, an independent nonprofit financed by public and private funds, issued The Health Care Prices Report on Tuesday. Its intent is to give consumers sufficient information to negotiate the costs of their health-care services.
The fourth annual report shows the average allowed amount insurers pay for services, such as doctor visits, delivering babies, mammograms and CT scans. For example, it reports that an MRI of the back costs triple for a hospital outpatient ($3,400 average), as compared to one performed in a physician's office ($1,100). The same goes for arthroscopic knee surgery, which is four times as expensive for the hospital outpatient. By comparison, average cost for an ultrasound only varies by about $40 -- $592 versus $551 --depending on the setting.
"We're among a handful of states that publish this information. What's unique this year is that with the help of health insurance companies, consumers can see more detailed pricing information about specific health-care procedures," says Michael Lundberg, executive director of the reporting group.
The new information includes variations in price by where the procedure takes place and a breakdown of possible charges for the facility, surgeon, anesthesiologist, radiologist, physician and others. For example, Lundberg says, "A consumer can compare prices for a breast biopsy performed at a physician's office [$1,998], hospital [$2,476], or ambulatory surgical center [$3,391]." They can then discuss the best option with their doctor.
The information is particularly useful to those who pay out of pocket for health care: consumers without health care insurance; those with health savings accounts; those with high-deductible plans; and those who may be liable for upfront charges for medical tests or procedures.
Once a consumer has negotiated a price, Virginia Health Information recommends that they get the agreement in writing. It also cautions that the numbers have their limitations, particularly as they give statewide averages which do not account for local variations; it advises their use as a starting point for negotiations.
To read the full report, go to http://www.vhi.org/healthcareprices or call 1-877-VHI-INFO to get a print version.
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Read More»Doctor still has passion for medicine at 91
By Rob Dennis, The Argus, Fremont, Calif.
Feb. 14--When Dr. Dan Martin set up his practice in San Leandro more than six decades ago, it was a different town -- and a different kind of doctoring.
Martin charged $3 for an office visit and $5 for house calls, traveling all over the area to treat patients.
"I did house calls by the thousands, all the way from Union City to Lake Merritt," he said.
Over the next 50 years, he built a successful practice, helped launch two area hospitals and even graced the pages of Time magazine.
Today, at 91, he retains a vigor for life and a passion for medicine.
Until recently, he volunteered at the Davis Street Family Resource Center's free clinic in San Leandro. Last week found him checking seniors' blood pressure at the monthly Sons in Retirement luncheon at Francesco's restaurant in Oakland, and then addressing the group about advances in heart disease treatments.
"Doc Martin has been great about speaking," said John Hagebusch, the top officer or "Big Sir" of SIRS Branch 26, which has about 160 members. "He (checks) their blood pressure. He's here every month."
Martin, who has lived in Oakland since 1961, downplays his accomplishments, saying he's no high-flying surgeon or research doctor.
"I'm just an old general practitioner," he said.
Opening hospitals
Born in Portland, Ore., and raised in Eugene, Ore., Martin attended the University of Portland and then Oregon Health and
Science University, graduating in 1945.
He served for two years in the Army Medical Corps and then got a job paying $50 a month at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center.
In 1948, he settled in San Leandro, then a small but growing town of 25,000 people.
"I knew of him, because he was well-known." said Glen Barth, 90, of Castro Valley, who lived in San Leandro for 25 years after World War II. "It was a community then instead of a city."
The community needed its own hospital, though.
At the time, there were only two nearby options: a 35-bed Hayward hospital and an 85-bed facility in East Oakland.
So Martin backed efforts in the late 1940s and early 1950s to create the Eden Township Healthcare District and build Eden Medical Center in Castro Valley.
Read More»New survey details Californians’ end-of-life wishes
SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Fewer that one in four Californians have written instructions as to how and where they would like to die -- risking the immense emotional, physical and financial burden of end-of-life hospital care.
Yet an overwhelming majority of Californians would rather die at home, far from the tumult of a hospital, according to a poll released Tuesday.
"There is a huge gap between the place and way that people would like to spend their final days -- and the place and way that they do," said Dr. Mark D. Smith, president and CEO of the Oakland-based California HealthCare Foundation, which commissioned the survey.
Its findings echo the passionate voices of Bay Area News Group readers who, following a Cost of Dying article, said they want to spare their families the burden of end-of-life hospital care.
But many were uncertain how to ensure that their wishes were carried out.
The survey, called "Final Chapter: Californians' Attitudes and Experiences with Death and Dying," notes that California's elderly are a growing share of the state's population. The number of residents over 85 has quadrupled over the past 40 years.
It found that:
-- Nearly 8 in 10 Californians said that if they were seriously ill, they would want to speak with their doctor about end-of-life care. But fewer than 1 in 10 report having had a conversation, including just 13 percent of those 65 or older.
-- Eighty-two percent said that it is important to put their wishes in writing. Less than one quarter have actually done so. More than half say they have not talked with a loved one about the kind of care they want at the end of life.
-- Seventy percent said they would prefer to die at home. But only 32 percent pass away in their homes, according to the California Department of Public Health.
The family of Napa's Graeme Plant, who died Nov. 10, is deeply grateful that he took steps to ease their decision to let him die at home from pneunomia, rather than at the hospital.
Plant had watched his mother and sister slowly deteriorate with Alzheimer's disease and wanted to spare himself that fate.
Read More»Augusta business releases improved solutions for common treatment mistakes
By Gracie Shepherd, The Augusta Chronicle, Ga.
Feb. 14--Augusta-based inVentiV Medical ManÂageÂment last week announced three new programs designed to better protect patients from inappropriate and ineffective care associated with cancer, cardiovascular and kidney treatments.
The company provides a watchdog service to those who are self-insured, including third-party administrators, employer groups and reinsurance carriers. Its specialty care physicians, nurses and billing experts lobby on behalf of customers to make sure appropriate care is given and that the patient is charged an appropriate price for that treatment.
"We have a constant vigilance going on," said Roxane Padgett, inVentiV's vice president of marketing and commercialization.
Ideally, inVentiV employees are in communication with the patient's physician from the moment a diagnosis is given. But even if inVentiV is brought into just the billing process, it closely inspects invoices and paperwork to make sure the customer's care was correctly recorded and priced competitively.
"We want to get involved before care is delivered, but the billing process is also extremely important," Padgett said.
The new programs focus on cardiovascular, kidney and cancer care, PadgÂett said. CEO Marc Palmer said his company's role in researching and lobbying for evidence-based medicine plays an important role in effective health-care reform.
"Cancer treatments align to evidence-based medicine as little as 30 percent of the time, 20 to 40 percent of the pacemakers doctors implant are medically inappropriate, and many patients living with the dangerous triad of uncontrolled diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol will wind up with kidney failure and find themselves on dialysis," Palmer said. "Such inappropriate and ineffective
care is directly contributing to the rising cost of health care in the United States."
This expansion will result in new jobs, Padgett said, and perhaps even a second inVentiV location in Augusta. More information can be found at www.inventivmm.com.
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