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Washington Post Examines Lobbying Efforts Of Health Information Technology Industry
The Washington Post on Saturday examined the role of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society in lobbying for the national adoption of health information technology as part of health reform efforts. According to the Post, HIMSS has collaborated with various allies, including technology vendors and research groups, "in a sophisticated, decade-long campaign to shape public opinion and win over Washington"s political machinery."HIMSS in the early part of this decade forged a "strategic alliance" with the Center for Information Technology Leadership, a not-for-profit health IT research group in Massachusetts, to develop and distribute data reports on the cost efficiency and benefits of health IT, the Post reports. CITL also had sponsorship ties with several health and technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, Kaiser Permanente and Siemens Medical Solutions. In 2004, CITL issued a report that concluded in part that a national health IT system could reduce spending by as much as $77.8 billion by limiting drug prescribing errors and notifying providers of more cost-effective drug alternatives.According to the Post, the findings of the report were used by the Obama administration in developing the $787 billion federal economic stimulus package, which included billions in new spending for the creation and adoption of health IT systems. Although a Congressional Budget Office report found that the assumptions of CITL report were "overly optimistic" -- a follow-up CBO analysis projected that electronic health records would reduce health care spending by $17 billion over 10 years -- the health IT measures in the stimulus package "represented a triumph" for HIMSS, "whose members now stand to gain billions in taxpayer dollars," the Post reports. The Post notes that HIMSS" "sudden success shows how the economic crisis created a remarkable opening for a political and financial windfall: the enactment of a sweeping new policy with no bureaucratic delays and virtually no public debate about an initiative aimed at transforming a sector that accounts for more than a sixth of the American economy" (O"Harrow, Washington Post, 5/16).Please note: The Kaiser Family Foundation is not associated with Kaiser Permanente or Kaiser Industries.
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Study Confirms Effectiveness Of Innovative Prism Glasses For Hemianopia Patients
In a study of specially designed peripheral prism glasses for hemianopia patients (blinded in half the visual field in both eyes), scientists found that two-thirds of patients continued to wear the glasses at the end of the study period and beyond, indicating a high level of success. They also found that the brains of patients had not fully remapped to adjust for the prisms, which means that improved training in their use could further enhance the benefits, says principal investigator, Dr. Eli Peli, a senior scientist at Schepens Eye Research Institute and inventor of the glasses.
News of the day
Hospitals Receive AHA Award For Improving Community Health Through Effective Collaborative Projects
The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced the winners of the AHA NOVA Award. These five collaborative hospital-led programs work to improve community health by improving health habits and other social and educational factors leading to better health status and improving access to care. Each program will be honored at a July 25 ceremony held during the association"s annual Health Forum Leadership Summit in San Francisco.
Diagnostics

South Africa TB Treatment Default Rate Declines, Treatment Success Increases, Review Says

South Africa"s tuberculosis treatment default rate has decreased and the treatment success rate has increased, a delegation from the WHO"s Stop TB Partnership said recently, SAPA/IOL reports (7/17). A review of South Africa"s TB program examined the use of DOTS, health system strengthening, TB/HIV collaboration, drug-resistant TB, public-private partnerships and other aspects of the program, according to Africa Science News Service (7/17). "The review found that some facilities were still poorly staffed and infection control measures needed more work; there were major improvements on access to TB services like diagnosis and treatment at all health facilities; drugs were generally available; and HIV testing for TB patients had increased beyond 90 percent in many of the facilities visited," writes SAPA/IOL. Fidel Radebe, the South African health department spokesperson, said that the review called for the "management of TB/HIV co-infected patients at the same facilities with effective infection control measures." It also recommended that NGOs focusing on HIV incorporate TB into their efforts (7/17). According to Africa Science News Service, Leopold Blanc of the Stop TB Partnership said, "Despite the areas of concern that are still there, we are encouraged by the progress made (by South Africa) in this regard. It"s however vitally important that you look more closely in the area of aggressively addressing TB/HIV co-infection and TB within HIV programes and infection control." Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said he was "encouraged" by the review findings, and "[m]oving forward, we have to strengthen around the areas that the review draws our attention to" (7/17). According to SAPA/IOL, South Africa"s Deputy President Kgalema Motlanthe at the 5th IAS Conference on HIV Pathogenesis, Treatment and Prevention in Cape Town mentioned other areas for improvement, "These include the need for a more coherent strategy for TB/HIV integration, strengthened infection control, strengthening TB control in the mining industry as well as in the correctional services." Motlanthe also called for eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in South Africa. "South Africa must ensure that we dramatically decrease the number of infants that are infected so that we can indeed have a generation free of AIDS," Motlanthe said during a recent speech. He added that the country"s minister of health plans to soon officially launch an "accelerated plan" to reduce HIV/AIDS rates and improve care, treatment and support access (7/19). This information was reprinted from globalhealth.kff.org with kind permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, search the archives and sign up for email delivery at globalhealth.kff.org. © Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.


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