HHS issues first national health security strategy

The HHS has introduced the country’s first health security strategy focused on managing large-scale health threats. “The National Health Security Strategy is a call to action for each of us so that every community becomes fully prepared and ready to recover quickly after an emergency,” notes HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius. The strategy includes 10 objectives for achieving health security.

CMS report cites slowdown in health care spending growth rate
U.S. spending on health care increased 4.4% to $2.3 trillion in 2008, the slowest rate of growth in about 50 years, a new CMS report shows. Despite the decline in the growth rate, medical costs accounted for 16.2% of the gross domestic product, amounting to about $7,681 per person during that year, according to the report.

Federal proposal defines ‘meaningful use’ criteria for EMRs
Federal agencies on December 30 issued a proposal outlining the “meaningful use” requirements that hospitals and physicians will have to meet in order to qualify for stimulus incentives. One requirement states that by fiscal year 2011, hospitals and doctors should have “performed at least one test” of their electronic medical record system’s ability to “electronically exchange key clinical information.”

Editor’s Note: Included in this article is the link to the 500+ report on draft rules that explain how hospital and physician groups can apply for the dollars that came from the HITECH Act. To learn more about HITECH, access our webinar on the topic: HITECH: How It Impacts Case Management: Achieving an Action Plan for Compliance.

Half of depressed Americans go without treatment

Survey data showed only half of Americans diagnosed with depression get treatment, and fewer than one-quarter of those who do are treated with effective strategies and in compliance with practice guidelines. A separate study found that physician visits in which two or more psychotropic medications were prescribed to a patient increased to 60% in 2006 from 43% in 1996. Both studies were published in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

Editor’s Note: Take time to listen to an interview with Becky Perez, a case manager colleague, on the importance of addressing behavioral as well as the physical needs of medically complex patients.

Online program can boost fruit, vegetable consumption

Websites providing nutrition information about fruits and vegetables can dramatically increase their consumption, a study indicates. Three months into the Making Effective Nutrition Choices study, 70% of participants were eating five or more servings a day, a 20% increase that continued through the year-long study.

Editor’s Note: The December 2009 Patient Primer, A Focus on Healthy Eating to Control Inflammatory Disease, is a handy tool that you can share with your patients. 

Checklist for successful surgery: A manifesto

Dr. Atul Gawande, surgeon and writer for the New Yorker, was interviewed January 5 on NPR about his new book, The Checklist Manifesto: How to Get Things Right. Take time to read so your organization can decrease preventable surgical complications.

10 essential consumer trends for 2010
The coming year will see companies forced to radically reinvent their business practices and their public image, according to this month’s Trendwatching briefing. Above all, the report argues, consumers will want to associate themselves with truly unique and exceptional brands. “Learn from those brands that you think are already mirroring today’s more diverse, chaotic, networked society, and then outdo them.”

10 ways to turbo charge your year

To get your year off to a flying start, Terry Starbucker recommends taking a little quiet time to reflect on the past year, figure out your priorities for 2010, and take stock of your team’s strengths and weaknesses. “Stay self aware!” he writes. “You don’t have to be a zen master, but it’s important to stay centered, calm, open minded, receptive, and understanding.”

Why you should act like a 4-year old

To generate really earth-shaking ideas, you need to get in touch with your inner child, say the authors of a new study. After spending six years interviewing more than 3,500 executives, INSEAD professor Hal Gregersen found that the most creative leaders tended to act like curious 4-year-olds, taking wonder in the world around them, talking to everyone and questioning everything. “This kind of questioning attitude and mentality is just rampant in these folks,” Gregersen says.