Kaiser Health News (7/11, Ostrov) discusses and dubunks four myths about mental illness. The article points out that “nearly 20 percent of American adults will suffer from a mental illness at some point in a given year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health.”
Related Links:
— “Busting Myths About Mental Illness,” Barbara Feder Ostrov, Kaiser Health News, July 11, 2016.
US News & World Report (7/11, Leonard) reports that research indicates “state laws that require health insurance companies to cover autism treatment still aren’t reaching the vast majority of children with the disorder.” The findings were published in JAMA Pediatrics. Investigators “found that in states without insurance mandates, the treated prevalence of autism was 1.6 per 1,000 children, compared with 1.8 per 1,000 children in states with insurance mandates.” Although “the difference represents an increase in treated prevalence of 12.7 percent, the higher total still makes up only a small fraction of the” CDC’s “estimate of 15 in 1,000 children who have autism.”
HealthDay (7/11) reports that since Indiana first implemented insurance mandates 15 years ago, “43 other states have also made autism treatment more accessible to families that couldn’t afford it.”
Related Links:
— “Do Autism Laws Help Kids?,” Kimberly Leonard, US News & World Report, July 11, 2016.
HealthDay (7/11) reports several common operations can slightly increase a patient’s risk of becoming addicted to opioids, according to a new study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Researchers examined the number of opioid prescriptions patients filled before and after 11 common operations in order to determine how many patients became addicted to opioids following surgery.
MedPage Today (7/11, Fiore) reports the 11 procedures that the study focused on were: “total knee arthroplasty, total hip arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy, open cholecystectomy, laparoscopic appendectomy, open appendectomy, cesarean delivery, functional endoscopic sinus surgery [FESS], cataract surgery, transurethral prostate resection [TURP], and simple mastectomy.” Researchers found that some of the procedures, including total knee arthroplasty, laparoscopic cholecystectomy [gall bladder removal], and cesarean delivery, increased patients’ risk for becoming addicted to opioids, while there was no increased risk of opioid addiction for patients who underwent “cataract surgery, laparoscopic appendectomy, FESS, and TURP.”
Related Links:
— “Common Surgeries Raise Risk for Opioid Dependence: Study,” HealthDay staff, HealthDay, July , 2016.
In a more than 1,200-word article in “The Upshot,” the New York Times (7/8, SR7, Kolata, Subscription Publication) reported that “something strange is going on in medicine,” as many “major diseases, like colon cancer, dementia and heart disease, are waning in wealthy countries, and improved diagnosis and treatment cannot fully explain it.” According to the Times, while “scientists marvel at this good news, a medical mystery of the best sort,” others “are puzzled.”
Related Links:
— “http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/10/upshot/a-medical-mystery-of-the-best-kind-major-diseases-are-in-decline.html,” Gina Kolata, New York Times, July 8, 2016.
The New York Times (7/11, Peachman) reports that a study release today in the journal Pediatrics finds that “many teenagers who never would have smoked cigarettes are now ‘vaping’ with flavored e-cigarettes, leading to a new generation using nicotine at rates not seen since the 1990s.” According to University of Southern California researchers, “e-cigarettes do not appear to have made a dent in regular cigarette use,” and “the rate of teenagers using nicotine — either through tobacco cigarettes or e-cigarettes — is on the rise” at 14%, which is the highest it has been since 1995.
Related Links:
— “More Nonsmoking Teens Inhaling Flavored Nicotine Through Vaping,” RACHEL RABKIN PEACHMAN, New York Times, July 11, 2016.
HealthDay (7/7, Dallas) reports that during the period 2013 to 2014, nearly three “million US teens suffered a major bout of depression,” newly released research from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) reveals. In fact, “the overall rate of depression among young people jumped to 11 percent between 2013 and 2014, up from 9.9 percent the previous year, the SAMHSA report found.”
Related Links:
— “Depression Strikes Nearly 3 Million U.S. Teens a Year,” Mary Elizabeth Dallas, HealthDay, July , 2016.
USA Today (7/7, Zoroya) reports new data from the Department of Veterans Affairs show that on average, 20 veterans committed suicide daily in 2014. The article says this figure is “the first actual count of suicides among former service members,” and points out that the 2010 average of 22 suicides per day was an estimate. David Shulkin, VA undersecretary for health, highlighted “the slight decline from the 2010 estimate, but added, ‘it’s still far too high.’” The piece adds that according to the figures, the highest number of suicides occurred among male veterans aged 18-29, who had a suicide rate of 86 per 100,000 people; female veterans in that age group had a rate of 33 per 100,000, but the national average is 13 per 100,000 people.
Related Links:
— “20 veterans a day committed suicide in 2014, new data show,” Gregg Zoroya, USA Today, July 7, 2016.
Healthcare IT News (7/5, Lagasse) reports telemedicine may be most helpful when used to remotely monitor patients with certain chronic conditions, such as cardiovascular and respiratory disease, as well as for conducting psychotherapy as part of a behavioral health treatment, according to a research review conducted by the US Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. The AHRQ reviewed “58 systematic reviews amid a substantial volume of research on telemedicine” with the aim of finding the situations where the practice was most effective. Researchers looked for instances in which telemedicine programs reduced costs and improved patient outcomes.
Related Links:
— “Telehealth sweet spot? Remote monitoring of patients with cardiovascular or respiratory disease, AHRQ says,” Jeff Lagasse, Healthcare IT News, July , 2016.
Forbes (7/5, Burns) reports the University of Missouri “has been providing psychiatric and counseling services via telemedicine to patients around the state,” and a recent study “by the University of Missouri School of Medicine revealed that the video-based mental health services are being utilized in mostly rural areas by individuals who might otherwise need to travel upwards of 20 miles for support, and whose average age is 16.” Healthcare administrators across the country are looking to use telehealth for help curb opioid abuse, improve women’s access to sexual and reproductive health support, and could potentially turn to the technology to benefit children and teens looking for counseling.
Related Links:
— “Families In Rural Areas Using Telemedicine For Psychiatric, Specialty Care,” Janet Burns, Forbes, July , 2016.
Modern Healthcare (7/5, Dickson, Subscription Publication) reports ever since Medicaid was created in 1965, it “has excluded payment for institutions of mental disease (IMDs) for beneficiaries 21 and over,” and the majority of “residential treatment facilities for mental health and substance use disorders with more than 16 beds did not qualify for Medicaid reimbursement.” On July 5, that five-decade ban was lifted, but experts say it will take some time before beneficiaries can take advantage of the change. According to Andrew Sperling, director of legislative affairs for NAMI, “No radical change is expected July 5th as plans need to contract with facilities and those agreements may not kick in until the next contract year.”
Related Links:
— “Medicaid plans can now pay mental health institutions. Most won’t until 2017,” Virgil Dickson, Modern Healthcare, July 5, 2016.