This Page Last Updated: 06/01/2005

Contents:

Bioterrorism
Emergency Department Reports
Health Care Quality Reports
Health Insurance
Health Spending Projections Though 2013
Hospital Utilization Reports
Medicare/Medicaid Programs
Nursing Home Reform Review Panel Report to Delaware General Assembly On the Status of Nursing Home Reform
Occupational Outlook - Department of Labor 2002 - 2003 Report
Organ Donation
Quality Initiative Reports
Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Trends in Tuberculosis - United States, 1998-2003
Uninsured
Women's Health
Workplace Safety

GAO Report "Hospital Preparedness:  Most Urban Hospitals have Emergency Plans but Lack Certain Capacities for Bioterrorism Response"  (August 2003) http://www.nasemsd.org/GAO.pdf

Emergency Department Reports:

• The Schumacher Group has compiled yearly Emergency Department Reports.  You can view these reports at http://www.tsged.com/ED_Survey.htm.

• Americans made 110.2 million visits to hospital emergency rooms in 2002, 2.5% more than in 2001 and 23% more than a decade ago, the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reports.  The findings were reported in the CDC's latest annual summary of hospital emergency department visits,
prepared by the National Center for Health Statistics.  The most common reasons given for an ED visit in 2002 were abdominal pain, chest pain, fever,
and cough, which accounted for nearly one-fifth of all visits.  The most frequently reported primary diagnoses were contusions, acute upper respiratory infections, open wounds except to the head, and abdominal pain.  "This is just more evidence that hospital emergency departments are overloaded - a critical warning sign of an overburdened health care system," said Caroline Steinberg, AHA Vice President for Health Trends Analysis.  The CDC report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/.


• Study examines EDs serving a high volume of safety net patients.  In 36% of the nation's emergency departments, at least 30% of the patients
  are uninsured or eligible for Medicaid, according to a new report on the characteristics of "high safety-net" EDs. The report by the Centers for
  Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics finds such EDs are more likely to be in areas with higher rates of poverty and
  unemployment and fewer primary care physicians than other communities, and their patients are more likely to be treated for non-urgent conditions. The
  report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/04facts/safetynet.htm.
  

Health Care Quality Reports:

US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Reports

• National Healthcare Quality Report - The report includes a broad set of performance measures that can serve as baseline views of the quality of health care. The report presents data on the quality of services for seven clinical conditions, including cancer, diabetes, end-stage renal disease, heart disease, HIV and AIDS, mental health, and respiratory disease. It also includes data on maternal and child health, nursing home and home health care, and patient safety. Future reports will help the nation make continuous improvements by tracking quality through a consistent set of measures that will be updated as new measures and data become available.  Click here to download the complete report (zip file)

 
• National Healthcare Disparities Report - The report includes a broad set of performance measures that can serve as baseline views of differences in the use of services. The report presents data on the differences in the use of services, access to health care, and impressions of quality for seven clinical conditions, including cancer, diabetes, end-stage renal disease, heart disease, HIV and AIDS, mental health, and respiratory disease as well as data on maternal and child health, nursing home and home health care, and patient safety. It also examines differences in use of services by priority populations. Future reports will help the nation make continuous improvement by tracking differences through a consistent set of measures that will be updated as new measures and data become available.  Click here to view complete report (pdf format)

Health Insurance:

Kaiser Family Foundation Report that explores the experiences of families trying to make ends meet on limited budgets. By discussing these families’ work, spending patterns, financial challenges, priorities and tradeoffs and health care and coverage, this report intends to provide a deeper understanding of families’ financial pressures and choices and information to assess the impact of current and proposed policies.   For more information, go to http://www.kff.org/medicaid/4147.cfm

Health Insurance Tax Cuts

A recently released study released by the Center for Studying Health System Change suggests it will take much more generous tax credits than the Bush administration proposes to sizably reduce the number of lower-income uninsured Americans.  The study compares out-of-pocket health care spending by lower-income uninsured people with their expected spending if they bought individual health insurance.  It estimates the average annual out-of-pocket spending for uninsured families is $463, and that their premium costs and out-of-pocket spending would average $3,632 if they bought non-group coverage.  That's about three times the average tax credit of $1,121 under the administration proposal.  The researchers note that while insurance provides greater access to medical care, many lower-income families would face tough financial trade-offs in deciding whether to buy non-group coverage even with the help of a tax credit.  "For most lower-income people, spending for health care and health insurance competes directly with spending for food and shelter," author James Reschovsky said.  For more information, go to www.hschange.org.

Health Spending Projections Though 2013:

Report published in Health Affairs January/February 2004 edition.  You can view the report at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.w4.79

Hospital Utilization Reports:

The Delaware Healthcare Association collects hospital utilization data monthly.  To view aggragate year-end reports and for more information on obtaining a subscription for Quarterly and Year-End hospital specific reports, click here.

Medicare/Medicaid Programs:

Kaiser Commission Reports Examine Medicaid Financing
Two new reports by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured examine the financing and fiscal management of the Medicaid program. One report, "Medicaid's Federal-State Partnership: Alternatives for Improving Financial Integrity," suggests alternatives to improve Medicaid's financial management within its existing financing structure.  The other report, "Financing the Medicaid Program: The Many Roles of State and Federal Matching Funds," describes Medicaid's State-Federal matching structure and examines its implications for States, the Federal government, and health coverage of the low-income population.  The reports can be found at http://www.kff.org/about/kcmu.cfm.

MedPac Report to Congress: Medicare Payment Policy (March 2004)
MedPAC has released its March 2004 Report to the Congress: Medicare payment policy. In this report, MedPAC recommends updates and policy improvements for seven Medicare prospective payment systems (PPSs). The report also:

• discusses the context for MedPAC’s payment policy recommendations, noting that Medicare expenditures are projected to represent an increasing share of the federal budget and to grow faster than the economy;
• includes recommendations on payment and eligibility policy for the Medicare+Choice program; and
• addresses the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries and recommends establishing quality incentive payment policies for the Medicare Advantage program and for outpatient dialysis services.

To view the table of contents with links to individual chapters, please select the first item under recent products below. Click here to view a summary of recommendations, select the Table of Contents. Click here to view the press release.  Both in PDF format.

Nursing Home Reform Review Panel Report to the Delaware General Assembly On the Status of Nursing Home Reform - June 2003:

State Senator Robert I. Marshall held hearings regarding the status of nursing home reform in Delaware.  The report that was issued on June 24, 2003, is linked below in Adobe format.   To view the report, you can click below or go to the State's web page and open the report there.  The State's web page is:  http://www.legis.state.de.us/Legislature.nsf/fsOnlinePub?openframeset&Frame=Main&Src=/Legislature.nsf/Lookup/OnlinePub_Home?open

To open report, click here.

Organ Donation:

The Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) has launched a national campaign to help prepare living organ donors for what to expect. Available is a brochure that includes basic facts about living organ donation, some of the potential short-term and long-term risks, questions a donor should ask his or her doctor, and resources to learn more about organ donation. For more information, or to download a copy of the brochure, go tohttp://www.jcaho.org/news+room/news+release+archives/organ+donation.htm

Occupational Outlook - Department of Labor 2002 - 2003 Report:

The publications provide information that reflects the Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics's latest employment projections covering the 2000-2010 period.  More detailed information on the 2000-2010 projections appears in four articles in the November 2001 Monthly Labor Review.  A graphic presentation of the highlights of the projections is featured in the Winter 2001-02 Occupational Outlook Quarterly.  The report can be viewed in HTML format at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/ecopro.toc.htm and pdf format at http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/ecopro.pdf.

Quality Initiative Reports:

The web site provides information on the quality of care in hospitals who have volunteered to report their data for selected clinical topics.  The Quality Initiative is the result of a collaborative effort between the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, national hospital organizations, accrediting organizations, consumer advocates, and others.  Improvements and updates occur on a regular basis.  To view the web site go to: http://www.medicare.gov/Hospital/Home.asp?version=alternate&browser=IE%7C6%7CWinXP&language=English&defaultstatus=1&pagelist=Home

Sexually Transmitted Diseases:

CDC Urges Increased HIV Education Tactics Among Minorities

Roughly 74% of heterosexual HIV infections between 1999 and 2002 occurred in the non-Hispanic black population, according to an analysis reported today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).  The CDC recommended targeting HIV education and prevention programs to high-risk minority populations and reducing barriers to HIV prevention and care in those populations.  The CDC analysis found heterosexually acquired HIV infections accounted for 35% of all new HIV cases in the four-year timeframe, and 64% of acquired infections occurred in females.  CDC said lack of knowledge about HIV, decreased perception of risk, and use of drugs or alcohol may all play a role in contributing to the risk for HIV infection.  The report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr.

Trends in Tuberculosis - United States, 1998-2003:

The CDC recommends heightened vigilance by hospital staff to identify TB.  A tuberculosis outbreak at a community hospital in 2002 shows that a single tuberculosis patient has the potential to come into contact with a large number of patients and staff in a hospital setting, according to a case study highlighted in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's March 19, 2004's Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.  The study determined that, during a three-week period in which a patient was hospitalized at a large community hospital with unrecognized TB, 1,045 people, 75% of whom were hospital staff, were exposed to the patient.  Ultimately, four patients and a health care worker were diagnosed with TB; all were on the same ward as the TB-positive patient, whose symptoms may have been masked by HIV infection.  "Although the incidence of TB continues to decline, heightened awareness and vigilance is required by hospital staff to identify and treat persons with suspected TB promptly," the report says.  It recommends that patients with suspected TB be placed in respiratory isolation until infectious TB is ruled out, that TB patients wear a surgical mask when being transported for procedures that cannot be performed in an isolation room, and that hospital infection-control programs have protocols for HIV-infected patients with pulmonary symptoms suggestive of TB.  The report can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/index.html.

Uninsured:

• Study: Covering the nation's uninsured would be sound investment. Providing health coverage to the nation's uninsured would improve their health care without generating large increases in overall health spending, according to a study released today by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured.  Uninsured Americans could incur nearly $41 billion in uncompensated health care treatment in 2004, most of it provided by hospitals, the study indicates. Still, people uninsured for the entire year can expect to receive about half as much care as people fully insured. If all the uninsured were provided health coverage and used the health system at rates comparable to the insured population, the cost of additional medical care provided to the newly insured would be $48 billion, or a 0.4% increase in the health spending share of the gross domestic product. "When one considers the modest share of this spending to the nation's economy and the long-term economic benefit of good health, $48 billion appears to be a sound investment," the authors conclude. For more on the report, "The Cost of Care for the Uninsured: What Do We Spend & Who Pays?" go to http://www.kff.org/covertheuninsured2004.
  

• Study: Adults under 30 comprise 30% of the non-elderly uninsured.  Nearly two in five college graduates and one-half of high school graduates who do not attend college will endure a period without health insurance in the first year after graduation, according to a Commonwealth Fund analysis of the latest national data. Young adults aged 19-29 comprise just 17% of the population but 30% of the under-65 uninsured, the study found. The researchers say policymakers could extend coverage to more uninsured young adults by extending eligibility for private family coverage and Medicaid and State Children's Health Insurance Program coverage to age 23, and ensuring that colleges and universities require and offer coverage to their students.  The study notes that young adults are a relatively low-cost population to insure, and that keeping them in insurance pools may lower the average costs of group coverage. The report can be found at http://www.cmwf.org/.
  
  
• Delaware Health Care Commission Uninsured Web Site - www.delawareuninsured.org

• Options for Expaning Coverage to Delaware's Uninsured - June 2001

The Delaware Health Care Commission report listing options to expand coverage to Delaware's uninsured population.  To open the report, click here (pdf format) or go to  http://www.delawareuninsured.org/library/DOCUMENTS/OptionsJune7.pdf.

• Progress Overview of the Delaware Health Care Commission's Uninsured Action Plan - June 2001

To open the report, click here (pdf format) or go to http://www.delawareuninsured.org/library/DOCUMENTS/UAP.pdf .

• Delawareans Without Health Insureance - 2000

Prepared for the Delaware Health Care Commission by the University of Delaware, Center for Applied Demography & Survey Research. To open the report, click here (pdf format) or go to http://www.delawareuninsured.org/library/DOCUMENTS/Hcc007.pdf.

•   National Centers for Health Statistics - Healthly Women : State Trends  in Health and Mortality - go to http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/datawh/statab/chartbook.htm