Study: Peer-referral programs can increase HIV-testing in emergency departments

Tweet

CINCINNATI—Researchers at the University of Cincinnati (UC) have found that incorporating a peer-referral program for HIV testing into emergency departments can reach new groups of high-risk patients and brings more patients into the hospital for testing.

Stroke patients respond similarly to after-stroke care, despite age difference

Tweet

Athens, Ga. – Age has little to do with how patients should be treated after suffering a stroke, according to new research from the University of Georgia.

Historically, younger stroke victims receive different after-stroke intervention strategies than those over a certain age. However, Neale Chumbler, a UGA professor and head of the department of health policy and management in the College of Public Health, found patients responded equally to care efforts.

Control of heart disease risk factors varies among outpatient practices

Tweet

Control of heart disease risk factors varies widely among outpatient practices, according to a study presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013.

Researchers compared electronic health records of 115,737 patients in 18 primary care and cardiology practices participating in The Guideline Advantage™, a collaboration of the American Cancer Society, American Diabetes Association and American Heart Association that aims to reduce risks for chronic diseases. They found:

Clinical support for patient self-management is rhetoric rather than reality

Tweet

The processes to allow people to self-manage their own illness are not being used appropriately by health professionals to the benefit of their patients, new research suggests.

Beer-industry advertising guidelines: Rating panels may help industry assess itself

Tweet

• The alcohol industry has developed and regulates its own guidelines regarding advertising.

• A new study has investigated the ability of panels to find consensus around code violations.
• Results indicate that a modified Delphi Technique may enhance the ability of regulatory agencies to monitor the content of alcohol-beverage advertising.

Study suggests new role for ECMO in treating patients with cardiac arrest and profound shock

Tweet

LDL cholesterol is a poor marker of heart health in patients with kidney disease

Tweet

• Among patients with chronic kidney disease, those with very low kidney function had a higher risk of having a heart attack than those with higher kidney function over a four-year period.

• The link between higher LDL cholesterol and heart attack risk was weaker for patients with very low kidney function than for patients with higher kidney function.
• 60 million people globally have chronic kidney disease.

Massachusetts' health care reform didn't raise hospital use, costs

Tweet

Massachusetts' healthcare reform didn't result in substantially more hospital use or higher costs, according to data presented at the American Heart Association's Quality of Care and Outcomes Research Scientific Sessions 2013.

The findings were true even among safety-net hospitals, which often have an open-door policy to accept patients regardless of the ability to pay. These hospitals are most likely to care for people who need free services, use Medicaid or must pay their own hospital bills.

Body mass index of low income African-Americans linked to proximity of fast food restaurants

Tweet

HOUSTON ­­– African-American adults living closer to a fast food restaurant had a higher body mass index (BMI) than those who lived further away from fast food, according to researchers at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and this association was particularly strong among those with a lower income.

Healthy companies and healthy regions: Connecting the dots

Tweet

In today's virtual world, it's easy to downplay the significance of place. Yet when it comes to regional prosperity, geography matters. Income and job growth is not random but rather spill over from one region to another, meaning that merely being next to a prosperous region will make your own economy more vibrant.