The legal battle over the constitutionality of the health care reform law continues at various levels in the federal court system. This past week, the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals handed down its opinion, deeming the individual mandate requirement of the Accountable Care Act (ACA) unconstitutional. This is in contrast to the 6th Circuit, which upheld the law in its entirety. A ruling from the 4th Circuit is expected shortly. There, two lower court cases came to opposing conclusions; one upheld the individual mandate and one struck it down. Oral arguments in another ACA challenge will be heard in the D.C. Circuit Court in September, and many other cases are pending in the district courts. Continue reading ’11th Circuit Court of Appeals rules on individual mandate’
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By Jessica Ridpath, Group Health Research Institute
Guided by research and monitoring patients, Group Health’s new initiative for safer opioid prescribing has produced stunning results in just nine months. Claire Trescott, MD, medical director of primary care, leads this innovative effort to protect patient safety at Group Health—and nationwide.
Drug overdose is a well-recognized health problem that kills more than 26,000 Americans each year. While the decades-long “war on drugs” has focused attention and resources on illegal substances, the nation faces a newer, less obvious threat: prescription opioid pain medicines such as oxycodone (brand name Oxycontin) and hydrocodone (Vicodin).
Fatal overdoses involving prescribed opioids tripled from 1999 to 2006, climbing to almost 14,000 U.S. deaths annually—more than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. Also troubling are dramatic increases in prescription opioid-related hospitalizations and emergency room visits—and in the number of adolescents abusing or selling opioids found in the family medicine cabinet. Continue reading ‘A learning health care system mobilizes to improve opioid prescribing safety’
I recently spoke about Group Health’s successful drug disposal program, to inform the DEA’s implementation of the Secure and Responsible Drug Disposal Act of 2010. Although our program, up and running since 2006 in 25 pharmacies, has been successful, the new law would allow us to legally accept controlled substances, which under current regulations can only be brought to a local police station for disposal. Continue reading ‘Urging support for prescription drug take-back programs’
Last week, I had the great opportunity to testify at the first public hearing of the Federal Advisory Board to the Consumer Operated and Oriented Plan (CO-OP) Program, which was created as part of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) passed last year. The 15-member board includes physicians, former regulators and government officials, consumer representatives, business people, and an actuary, appointed last summer by the US Comptroller General, who leads the Government Accountability Office (GAO). The full membership of the Board is described here. The Board’s job, as outlined in the health reform law, is to provide recommendations to the Secretary of HHS on how to structure the new program, including how to award grants and loans to organizations establishing new, member-run coverage providers that would provide insurance to individuals and small group through Exchanges, as outlined in the ACA. Continue reading ‘Federal advisory board considers co-ops’
As the dust settles over Tuesday’s midterm election, you may wonder how the outcome may affect Group Health Research Institute’s (GHRI’s) work for affordable excellence in health care. Here’s why I think it only makes our work more salient:
- We’re focused on solutions. While echoing voters’ concerns over the future of Medicare and other entitlements, the rising national deficit, and a still-floundering economy, few politicians offered concrete answers. So it’s hard to predict how lawmakers may try to steer health care reform. But whoever controls the U.S. House and Senate, economists predict our country must find ways to control spending on health care—or face financial collapse. Continue reading ‘Political climate change: Five ways Group Health Research Institute weathers the storm’
As controversy smolders in the other Washington over the nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), some here may be wondering: What’s not to like?
As president of the Institute for Health Innovation (IHI), the Harvard professor has successfully shown health organizations can improve patient care and safety—and decrease costs. Nationwide, he has helped providers adopt science-based approaches to reduce medical errors, increase efficiency, and improve outcomes. Such experience, along with his leadership and vision, could bring needed transformation to CMS. The agency manages a third of all U.S. health care spending—and will implement much of the new health reform law, including the creation of a new CMS Center for Innovation to explore new care and payment models to boost quality and control cost.
Continue reading ‘Beyond the politics of Dr. Berwick’s nomination: Cost solutions require evidence’
As our country seeks to fix what’s wrong with health care, we’re hearing a lot about a concept called the “medical home.” In fact, my colleague Dr. Robert Reid and I published a commentary on the topic in this week’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association. And I’ve been invited to describe Group Health Cooperative’s experience with the medical home at a National Press Club Forum titled “Reinventing Primary Care.”
But here’s something that may surprise you: The Medical Home is not a new idea. In fact, some say that it’s Continue reading ‘Back to the future of good primary care: The Patient-Centered Medical Home’
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