Sen. Blumenthal’s survey finds hospital drug shortages harming care

Yesterday, Sen. Blumenthal released a survey documenting serious drug shortages at CT hospitals. The number of drug shortages grew by 76% from 2009 to 2010. Some of the drugs in short supply are used for anesthesia, pain management, treating cancer, and acute asthma attacks. Shortages have led to drug hoarding and price gouging, according to the Senator. In some cases, shortages have led to delays in care and use of less effective medications.
Ellen Andrews

CT consumers can’t get prices for health care; CT hospital costs for the same treatment vary widely

A pair of articles from CT Health I-Team highlights problems with CT’s health care market. Unlike in other states, CT consumers trying to comparison shop have difficulty finding prices for health care services. Consumers in states, like NH and ME, can go online to get prices by payer for most treatments because those states have all-payer claims databases and information is online for consumers. CT is in the earliest stages of planning such a database; fourteen states are well ahead of us.

An accompanying article highlights the wide variation in prices Medicare pays CT hospitals for the same procedure. Dempsey Hospital gets the highest rate for most procedures. For example, the cost of heart valve surgery is 39% higher at Dempsey than at Danbury Hospital (the least expensive). Yale New Haven, Bridgeport and Windom also receive high prices. Variation in cost is based on the type of hospital (teaching vs. not), regional wages, income and acuity of patients, and the number of tests and procedures provided. Cost is not based on quality of care or healthy outcomes.
Ellen Andrews

Health IT privacy meeting

The first meeting of the HITE-CT privacy committee will be January 11th from 12:30 to 2pm at the LOB. This committee was created in response to legislative proposals to ensure consumers agree to protect their private health information on CT’s new electronic health information exchange. HITE-CT is the quasi-public entity federally funded to create an electronic health information exchange for CT. HITE-CT’s membership is dominated by providers and state agencies. Over the objections of consumers and advocates, in an opaque and unpublicized process, HITE-CT voted against an opt-in privacy process in which requires affirmative consumer consent to share health records. Instead, HITE-CT chose an opt-out policy in which all consumers’ information is shared by default unless they hear about and navigate the as yet undefined opt-out process. The process for opt-ing out and educating consumers about their rights has not been determined, but is severely under-resourced in the HITE-CT budget. All our surrounding states use an opt-in privacy policy in their successful exchanges and between 88 and 97% of consumers agree to share their information. Several states that used to have opt-out policies are converting to opt-in. In HITE-CT’s proposed policy, providers would be required to segregate any sensitive health information in patients’ records relating to ten conditions protected in law such as HIV and behavioral health status and treatment. Providers would also be required to accept liability for accurately and appropriately segregating all legally protected information.
Ellen Andrews

Overtreatment webinar slides and video posted

Slides and video from Rosemary Gibson’s webinar on What States Can Do About Health Care Overuse are posted. Rosemary Gibson has authored several books on the overuse of medical care, how it is harming our health, fueling health costs, and what we can do about it.
The next webinar is The Promise of Shared Decision-Making - Engaging Patients and Improving Care. with Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated, and Ben Moulton, from the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-making January 10th at 1pm. To register, click here.

CER Webinars

Join us for two upcoming webinars on similar themes.

The first is next Wednesday, December 28th at 10am with Rosemary Gibson, author of The Treatment Trap. Rosemary will describe the Overuse of Medical Care and what can be Done to Prevent It. To register, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/828589337.

The second is the Promise of Shared Decision-Making – Engaging Patients and Improving Care, Jan. 10th at 1pm. Hear Shannon Brownlee, author of Overtreated, and Ben Moulton, from the Foundation for Informed Medical Decision-making, talk about how policymakers can help inform patients about all their options and avoid unnecessary treatment. To register, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/968183345

Electronic health record breaches up 32% this year over last

As more patient records move to electronic formats, the number of breaches, or losses, of that information is also up sharply rising 32% this year over last, according to the NY Times. Lost or stolen laptops and phones make up almost half the breaches. Nationally, 57% of office-based physicians use electronic health records. Breaches cost the industry $6.5 billion/year but can cost patients far more. Records lost can include name, birthdate, and social security numbers in addition to sensitive health information. Breaches of unsecured protected health information that affect 500 people or more are listed online by law. The site, called the Wall of Shame, includes seven breaches in CT over the last two years together totaling 170,339 people. Organizations that lost information included providers and insurers, and involved theft, loss and unauthorized access. Unfortunately, in only some cases are entities required to notify patients that their information was breached. This highlights the need for strong security of electronic records and, just as important, patient control over their information. Informed consent is the basis of a respectful partnership between people and the health care industry that keeps us well. A breach should not be the first time any patient learns that their information is being shared.

CT Insurance Exchange News

New on the CT Exchange Watch Blog – www.ctexchangewatch.org – Mercer finishes report to exchange board, more press and more calls for consumer voices in the exchange.