ShowNotes - Episode #6
To
begin, here are some quick news notes from NCMIC’s September/October Health
E-Insights Newsletter.
First
- Spinal manipulation is twice as effective as medical care for shoulder pain.
According
to a September 2004 issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine, six treatments
with manipulation help twice as many patients become “recovered” than up to
12 weeks of medical treatment. The
latter type of treatment may have included:
Medication
Injections
Physical
therapy
….
To name a few.
Next,
For chronic low back pain patients, chiropractic “maintenance care” cuts
acute flare-ups in half.
Over
the course of nine months, chronic low back pain patients who received regular
chiropractic care (one treatment every three weeks) noted more than 50 percent
fewer significantly painful episodes. Journal of Manipulative and Physiological
Therapeutics, October 2004.
Finally,
Study links cigarette smoking with progression of multiple sclerosis.
Researchers
from the Harvard School of Public Health recently discovered that cigarette
smoking may contribute to the progression of MS, suggesting that quitting
smoking could limit or delay central nervous system deterioration.
This
is the first time that a modifiable risk factor for MS progression has been
identified, providing a new strategy for patients hoping to control neurological
damage from the disease.
The
study results appear in the March 9, 2005 issue of Brain.
Current and past smokers were 30 percent more likely to be diagnosed with MS
than those who had never smoked and were 3.6 times as likely as patients who had
never smoked to develop secondary progressive MS, a later stage of the disease
marked by steady deterioration of the central nervous system.
For
more information, surf to NCMIC.com
Alternative
Patient Care
A
NY Times article discusses how Allopathic or mainstream medicine is losing the
personal touch with patients and simply treating people as objects.
According
to the article, entering the medical system, whether a hospital, a nursing home
or a clinic, is often degrading. Experts
say that Larger trends in medicine have made it increasingly difficult to
deliver such social niceties. Many
hospital budgets are tight, and nurses are spread thin: shortages are running at
15 percent to 20 percent in some areas of the country. Average hospital stays
have also shortened in recent years, making it harder for patients to build any
rapport with staff, or vice versa.
In
a nationwide survey of more than 2,000 adults published fall 2004, 55 percent of
those surveyed said they were dissatisfied with the quality of health care, up
from 44 percent in 2000; and 40 percent said the quality of care had gotten
worse in the last five years. The survey was conducted by
Various
studies have shown that Patients of Chiropractors are satisfied with their care.
In HealthBeat episode #3, Chiropractic
ranked ahead of all conventional treatments for back pain.
For
more information, visit www.nytimes.com (http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/16/health/16dignity.html)
CMS proposes cut in
payments
According to
Chiropractic Economics, the Medicare supervising body, CMS, stated that Payment
rates for physicians’ services would be reduced by 4.3 percent in 2006. The
reduction is required by a statutory mandate that takes into account substantial
growth in overall Medicare spending in 2004.
The CMS expects to pay
approximately $56.5 billion to 875,000 physicians and other health care
professionals in 2006, according to its proposed rule released.
The physician fee
schedule specifies payment rates to physicians and other providers for more than
7,000 health care services and procedures, ranging from simple office visits to
complex surgery. The fee schedule is updated on an annual basis according to a
formula specified by statute. The formula requires CMS to adjust the update up
or down depending on how actual expenditures compare to a target rate, called
the sustainable growth rate or SGR.
For more information,
surf to - http://www.chiroeco.com/news
and click on the August link for 2005.
House passes AHP
bill
The U.S. House of
Representatives passed the bipartisan Small Business Health Fairness Act (H.R.
525) which creates association health plans (AHPs), allowing small businesses,
trade associations, or business organizations to form associations and purchase
health insurance for their workers at a lower cost.
By exempting AHPs from
many state regulations, the bill gives small businesses freedom from costly
state-mandated benefit packages and lowers their overhead costs by as much as 30
percent — benefits that large corporations and unions already enjoy.
Critics
said AHP plans could lead to bare-bones coverage for some workers and exclude
others, leaving them to face even higher bills. The American Chiropractic
Association has been an active member of a coalition of groups opposing the
enactment of this legislation, citing that it “would further erode state
insurance equality and any-willing-provider laws as well as similar provider and
consumer protections.”
For more information,
surf to - http://www.chiroeco.com/news
and click on the April link for 2005.
CMS ends contingency
for non-HIPAA- compliant claims
The Centers for Medicare
& Medicaid Services the CMS has announced that Medicare will not process
incoming non-HIPAA-compliant electronic Medicare claims submitted for payment
beginning October 1, 2005.
Prior to October 1,
claims in a non-compliant electronic format will continue to be paid. After
October 1, claims that do not meet standards required by the Health Insurance
Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) will be returned to the filer
for re-submission as compliant claims.
This action, affecting
claims for services provided under fee-for-service Medicare, ends a portion of a
CMS’ HIPAA contingency plan in effect since Oct. 16, 2003, under which
Medicare continued accepting non-compliant electronic claims after the deadline.
As discussed in
HealthBeat #1, in order to enable electronic submission of HIPAA-compliant
claims, the CMS continues to make available free/low cost software through
Medicare carriers and intermediaries. This is one part of the extensive campaign
by CMS to help filers become compliant through extensive outreach to the
remaining non-compliant providers/submitters.
For more information,
surf to - http://www.chiroeco.com/news
and click on the August link for 2005. Medicare
Information can be accessed directly at www.Medicare.gov
Higher Fitness Levels Protect Against Metabolic Syndrome
According to Club
Industry’s Fitness Business Pro newsletter, Moderate and high levels of
fitness can protect against developing metabolic syndrome in both women and men,
according to a study funded by the National Institutes of Health. Metabolic
syndrome refers to a cluster of cardiovascular disease and diabetes risk factors
such as excess body weight, high blood pressure, elevated triglycerides, low
levels of high-density lipoprotein and high fasting glucose levels. The presence
of three or more of the risk factors increases a person's risk of developing
diabetes and cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart
Association.
The study found that the
risk of metabolic syndrome in men was 26 percent lower for those who were
moderately fit and 53 percent lower for those who were highly fit, compared to
those in the lowest fitness category. In women, the risk of metabolic syndrome
was 20 percent lower for those who were moderately fit and 63 percent lower for
those who were highly fit, compared to those in the lowest fitness category.
For more information,
surf to - http://fitnessbusiness-pro.com/
Update
to Nutrition Bill
In
HealthBeat Episode #4, I discussed how the US Congress is considering updating
the Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act, also referred to as the DSHEA.
A
group known as Citizens for Health is requesting people to go to their web site
and sign their petition to not support this bill. This group is concerned
that this bill, H.R. 3156 will likely increase the price of popular herbs and
dietary supplements. They are also concerned that the bill would also
reduce the availability of herbs and dietary supplements.
For
more information about this bill's anti-petition, surf to - http://www.healthactioncenter.org/action/
To educate yourself with more information about the actual bill, surf to (http://thomas.loc.gov/) and type in the bill number, HR 3156.
Computer Security
I
present Tips and Suggestions about securing
your Computer systems and Data.