(Reuters Health)
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Patients Dissatisfied with Medicare Advantage Plans
November 20, 2015
NEW YORK - Medicare Advantage plans might not be meeting the needs of patients requiring the costliest and most complex levels of care, a new study suggests. Between 2010 and 2011, such patients were more likely to switch from Medicare Advantage plans to traditional Medicare, rather than vice ver
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ICD-10 Under ACP Scrutiny
November 19, 2015
NEW YORK - While the new International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes offer greater diagnostic precision, their implementation will require training of clinicians, coders, and other staff to minimize payment denials or delays from both public and
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Elderly Patients with Pneumonia Benefit from ICU Care
November 18, 2015
NEW YORK - Elderly patients with pneumonia whose need for intensive care unit (ICU) admission is uncertain actually fare better in the ICU than on the general medical ward, a new study suggests. "Although our results should be confirmed with a randomized trial, clinicians should be aware that man
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New ACC/AHA/HRS Guideline for Management of SVT
November 17, 2015
NEW YORK - Catheter ablation is favored for the management of most forms of supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) in adults, according to revised guidelines from the American College of Cardiology/American Heart Association/Heart Rhythm Society (ACC/AHA/HRS). SVT affects 2.25 in 1000 individuals in
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Poor Surgical Outcomes for Safety-Net Hospitals
November 16, 2015
NEW YORK - Hospital resources, and not necessarily patient characteristics, may be causing safety-net hospitals to deliver inferior surgical outcomes at increased cost in elective surgical procedures, according to a new study. "Analysis of Medicare Hospital Compare data revealed that safety-net h
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Dementia Most Costly Terminal Disease, Study Says
November 13, 2015
Families may spend almost twice as much caring for dementia patients at the end of life than they might if their loved one suffered from a different disease, a U.S. study suggests. Costs paid by Medicare, the U.S.
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Younger Type 2 Diabetics Face Greater Mortality Risks
November 11, 2015
NEW YORK - People with type 2 diabetes are 15 percent more likely to die from any cause and 14 percent more likely to die from a cardiovascular cause than non-diabetics at any given time, according to data from several Swedish registries. The rates are significantly lower than previous estimates.
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Drug Treatment Key to Fewer Hospitalizations for Schizophrenic Patients
November 10, 2015
NEW YORK - Initiation of antipsychotic or antidepressant drug treatment is linked to a reduction in hospitalizations for patients with schizophrenia, according to a new study. "Use of sulpiride, mirtazapine, venlafaxine, and clozapine-aripiprazole and clozapine amisulpride combinations were assoc
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Younger AF Patients at Higher Risk of Dementia
November 9, 2015
NEW YORK - Atrial fibrillation (AF) is associated with an increased risk of dementia, especially in younger individuals, according to results from the Rotterdam Study. "When we started this study, we hypothesized that the hazard of atrial fibrillation would be higher with longer exposure, but to
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Risk of Diabetes in Ex-Smokers Decreases
November 6, 2015
While smoking is linked to an increased risk of developing diabetes, this risk appears to drop over the long term once cigarette use stops, a review of evidence suggests. Researchers analyzed data on almost 5.9 million people in 88 previous studies examining the connection between smoking, second