Health Care By the Numbers

 

40 – The percentage of adults in a Glassdoor.com survey of workers that said their company made benefit changes in the fourth quarter of 2010, according to a Wall Street Journal article. Of those, 28 percent reported reductions to their medical or dental benefits, the Wall Street Journal reported

39 – For Mercy Provena Medical Center in Aurora, Ill., patients delivered 39 weeks without “an apparent indication” are reviewed by [a] OB committee on a case-by-case basis. This according Von Draper-Jarrett, clinical nurse manager for women and children’s services at Provena, interviewed by The Courier-News. Six Illinois medical centers have been chosen to be part of a March of Dimes pilot program calling for a halt to elective deliveries before 39 weeks of pregnancy. According to the article, research found that babies delivered early for various reasons (not related to medical reasons) had a higher percentage of chance of ending up in neonatal. Those interviewed were hoping to reduce pre-term births and admissions to a neonatal intensive care unit by 15 to 20 percent.

230 – Billion, is what a report from the Congressional Budget Office says it would take to repeal healthcare reform.

2,400 – Hospitals that Premier says will benefit from its alliance with IBM to integrate the nation’s healthcare data. It’s actually more than 2,400 and thousands of other healthcare sites. IBM and Premier will develop an industry-first technology platform to gain insights on, measure and improve the health of the population, the organizations announced. This will support hospitals, doctors and other health providers in working together to enhance patient safety while reducing the overuse of procedures, readmissions, unnecessary ER visits and hospital-acquired conditions

45 – Percentage of workers who support ACO adoption, according to a study. An online survey conducted by the Midwest Business Group on Health (MBGH) (Chicago, IL) found that more than 45 percent of all employers and 52 percent of large employers want to develop accountable care organizations. The survey was conducted by MBGH on the intentions and perspectives of employers concerning the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. There were approximately 430 respondents, with 43 percent representing employers with more than 500 employees. The survey also found that 53 percent of all employers and 67 percent of large employers say they do not plan to drop health benefits; nearly 60 percent want to replace the fee for service with bundled payments; more than half of survey respondents want to continue developing the medical home concept; nearly 60 percent of all employers stated that they will expand wellness programs in light of increased incentives allowed; and 60 percent of all employers and 50 percent of large employers believe the intention of health reform is to eliminate the employer-based system and move to a single-payer system.

Three — A survey by the National Alliance for Caregiving and UnitedHealthcare at the Consumer Electronics Show’s Silvers Summit, identifies three technologies that seemed to have the most appeal for consumers to track and manage their health.  According to the Wall Street Journal, they are:

Personal health record tracking: A full 77% of respondents said they’d find a web- or software-based personal health record very or somewhat helpful to track medications, test results and other data.

Caregiving coordination system: This kind of system, which 70% said they’d find helpful, would log a care recipient’s medical appointments and also coordinate the scheduling of help from family members or other volunteers.

Medication support system: Devices that remind patients to take their meds and give them info on side effects, plus alert a caregiver when the dose isn’t taken, would be useful to 70% of respondents. (The WSJ’s Digits blog recently wrote about one pill-cap-based medication alert/data collection system.

 

86 – Number of New Hampshire medical facilities that have joined a project to reduce OR waste. The goal is to collect data on how hospitals are saving money while reducing waste, energy and workers’ exposure to hazardous chemicals.

Practice Greenhealth estimates that operating rooms produce 20 to 30 percent of a hospital’s waste. John Leigh, manager of waste and recycling programs at Dartmouth-Hitchcock, didn’t have an exact figure for his hospital but said operating room waste makes up a significant portion of the roughly eight tons of trash the hospital generates each day. The challenge is finding ways to reduce waste while protecting patients, he said.

 

60,000 – The amount of times Medical Group Management Association members were said to have written, called or e-mailed their representatives some 60,000 times on planned Medicare cuts in 2010.

1-on-1 — In Care Transitions Intervention, trained coaches help patients with diabetes, respiratory or cardiac conditions — among the most frequent causes of readmission — to manage their care and reduce the number of readmissions.

Providing coaches helps people to be more effective patients, said Dr. Howard Beckman, director of innovative strategies for FLHSA.

“The coach’s job is to understand what people are hoping to achieve in caring for their chronic disease and help that person figure out what they need to do and how to best get it done,” he said