Week of February 17 - In Case You Missed It...TOMF Medical News Roundup
February 18, 2014
In Case You Missed It...
February 17, 2014
Fitbit Gives Fits
The wristband monitor, popular with an emerging generation of health care consumers who want instant feedback on their lifestyles, is generating complaints from a limited number of those consumers who complain it causes rashes.
The Fitbit, which retails for about $130, tracks steps taken, stairs climbed and sleep obtained - and sends it to your smartphone or computer. You can program goals and it will beep or glow if you don't meet those.
Some claim nickel in the device cause an allergic reaction similar to sunburn, ranging from redness to blisters. See the Wall Street Journal, Saturday, Feb 15, "Fitbit wristband users complain of skin rashes.
Latest From HHS on the ACA
Tucson Osteopathic Medical Foundation gets alerts from Herb K. Shultz, Health and Human Services regional director for Region IX. Today he sent:
Enrollment in the Health Insurance Marketplace continued to rise in January, with a 53 percent increase in overall enrollment over the prior three month reporting period, with young adult enrollment outpacing all other age groups combined, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced.
Nearly 3.3 million people enrolled in the Health Insurance Marketplace plans by Feb. 1, 2014 (the end of the fourth reporting period for open enrollment), with January alone accounting for 1.1 million plan selections in state and federal marketplaces. In January, 27 percent of those who selected plans in the Federally-facilitated Marketplace are between the ages of 18 and 34, a three percentage point increase over the figure reported for the previous three month period. Young adult enrollment grew by 65 percent in January, from 489,460 at the end of December to 807,515 as of Feb. 1, while all other age groups combined grew by 55 percent.
The report for the first time also includes information on the type of plans selected (Bronze, Silver, Gold, etc.) distributed across demographic factors such as gender and age. For example, it shows that 81 percent of young adults ages 18 to 34 selected plans at the Silver metal level or higher (Silver, Gold and Platinum plans).
"These encouraging trends show that more Americans are enrolling every day, and finding quality, affordable coverage in the Marketplace," Secretary Sebelius said. "There is still plenty of time for you and your family to sign up in a private plan of your choice, so visit HealthCare.gov to learn more and sign up. Open enrollment ends March 31."
Key findings from the report include:
• Nearly 3.3 million (3,299,500) people selected Marketplace plans from Oct. 1, 2013, through Feb. 1, 2014, including 1.4 million in the State Based Marketplaces and 1.9 million in the Federally-facilitated Marketplace.
• Of the almost 3.3 million:
o 55 percent are female and 45 percent are male;
o 31 percent are age 34 and under;
o 25 percent are between the ages of 18 and 34;
o 62 percent selected a Silver plan, while 19 percent selected a Bronze plan; and
o 82 percent selected a plan and are eligible to receive Financial Assistance, up from 79 percent during the Oct. 1 through Dec 28, 2013 reporting period.
Physicians Can Now Join PCMS Online
Quick. Which county medical society was the first west of the Mississippi (and possibly the first in the nation) to admit osteopathic physicians? If you answered "The Pima County Medical Society," then you are a winner!
Now when you apply for membership you can do so from your smart phone, I-Pad or computer. All you do is log onto www.pimamedicalsociety.org and click on the "Join PCMS" on the right hand side of the home page.
Membership is open to medical residents and medical students as well.
In Case You Missed It...
February 19, 2014
IVF Births Up
Media reports Monday discussed the rise of in vitro fertilization from a variety of angles - why they are up, long term risks, should it be available for single parents - but the actual numbers are hard to come by.
For the record, there were 61,740 IVF U.S. babies born in 2012. That is roughly 1.5 percent of the 3.9 million American babies born that year. It is also only about 2,000 more babies than were born through IVF in 2011.
Wide Spread Health Care Data Breaches
A variety of media sources reported yesterday that widespread hacking is putting private health information at risk and there were calls for health care to get its act together.
A report looked at 375 health care organizations in the U.S. that had been compromised, and the system used to detect the breaches is elegant, but the problem is the "study" was conducted by a security firm and its trade group.
When you go to Norse Corp and download the report, it come from Denise Hayman, senior vice president of sales and marketing. There is no reason to doubt the data or conclusions - just no reason to panic, either.
Gift Suggestion
Physicians are notoriously hard to shop for, and most of the things they have not already purchased for themselves that you could buy for them are gifts no one else would want.
Here's one they will like, and so will others.
Extreme Medicine, a book by Kevin Fong, MD (Penguin Press, 294 pages, $27.95) is a fascinating look at the development of trauma care, ICUs, plastic surgery, heart operations. Because these staples of today were born out of war, epidemic and tragedy, the book is more than a dry medical history.
In Case You Missed It...
February 20, 2014
New OB Guidelines Coming
For the first time in decades there will be new labor/birth guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine -- and the are aimed at reducing the number of caesarian births in the US, 2which stand at nearly a third of all births.
The guidelines will appear in the March issue of Obstetrics & Gynecology.
Labor times, and when physicians should intervene, were first posted in the late 1960s and have undergone little study since that time. Today, normal labor is understood to be a little longer and as long as the baby is monitored there is little danger from a longer labor.
The presumption will be that a vaginal delivery is the preferred option.
Brain Injured Vets
There have been dozens of stories during the last two months about soldiers returning home with brain injuries and the rehab options and hopes those warriors have.
What numbers are we talking about?
According to the Department of Defense, from September 11, 2001 through September 30, 2013, more than 265,000 US troops suffered TBI, Traumatic Brain Injury. Most were mild concussions, but 26,250 suffered penetrating head wounds, some of which would have been fatal in earlier wars.