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HEALTH INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

Clinical Decision Support and Medical Liability — Jul 11, 2011

Approaches for integrating Clinical Decision Support technology into clinical practice need to take complex issues into account, including "alert fatigue," medical liability concerns, and general patient welfare. Liability concerns, while important, should not override or derail the clinical value of CDS and patient safety.

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A selection of news reporting on critical RAND Health research and commentary.

Featured Research

How Do Anesthesia Providers Affect the Cost of Outpatient GI Procedures? — April 15, 2012

Anesthesia provider with IV bag

For most of the 20 million endoscopies and colonoscopies performed each year, the type of clinician who administers the sedation may have more of an impact on the procedure’s cost than on clinical care outcomes, according to a new RAND Health study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. In recent years, there has been a dramatic rise in the use of anesthesiologist or nurse anesthetist services during routine GI tests, largely for low-risk patients. Allowing GI procedure teams, rather than anesthesia providers, to administer anesthesia to low-risk patients could save $1.1 billion in health spending each year.

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Journal Article

How Healthy Are Menus at America’s Top Restaurants? — May 21, 2012

This study of menu content at the 400 top restaurant chains the United States found that ninety-six percent of entrees exceed a measure based on USDA recommendations for sodium, fat, saturated fat, and calories combined.

Journal Article

Is the Nursing Boom Actually a Recession-Born Bubble? — May 16, 2012

Projections of a nursing shortage led to a substantial expansion in the RN workforce between 2005 and 2010. Rather than indicating that the crisis has passed, analysis indicates the growth to be largely a temporary bubble that is likely to burst between 2010 and 2015 as the unemployment rate falls.

Journal Article

Barriers to Family Leave for Parents of Seriously Ill Children — May 15, 2012

Parents of newborns and seriously ill children often know about family leave options, but are sometimes too overwhelmed to apply for them or experience difficulties in accessing and using benefits. New parents reported wanting expert guidance, and saw hospitals and clinics as promising information sources.

Journal Article

A Multicultural Web-based Intervention for DUI Risk Reduction — May 13, 2012

A culturally relevant web-based Motivational Interviewing in English and Spanish was developed for use in DUI educational settings. The web format was widely accepted by both staff and clients, indicating this tool is feasible and may help help deter recidivism among first time DUI offenders.

Journal Article

Assessing Colonoscopy Quality With Natural Language Processing — May 12, 2012

Quality evaluations of medical procedures generating written reports historically required expensive coding and analysis, but new natural language processing programs effectively “read” dictated reports and measure colonoscopy quality. This analysis highlights the need for more routine measurement.

Journal Article

The Rates and Demographics of Multiple Patient Safety Events — May 10, 2012

Multiple patient safety events (MPSEs), in which multiple health problems occur during a single hospitalization, affect thousands of US patients yearly. This first-time national estimate suggests that MPSEs cluster in disadvantaged populations, are resource intensive, and may often be avoidable.

Journal Article

Probiotics Can Reduce Risk of Diarrhea Caused by Antibiotics — May 8, 2012

Probiotics are believed to improve health by maintaining a normal balance of microorganisms in the human intestines. Evidence shows that they can reduce the risk of developing diarrhea, which is a common side effect of taking antibiotics.

Journal Article

Expanding Consumer-Directed Health Plans Could Help Cut Overall Health Care Spending — May 7, 2012

If consumer-directed health plans grow to account for half of all employer-sponsored insurance in the United States, health costs could drop by $57 billion annually—about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly.

Journal Article

Is U.S. Spending on Cancer Care Worth the Price? — May 6, 2012

The United States spends much more on health care per capita than any European country, but critics argue that US patients gain little from this extra spending. However, comparing cancer survival times in US to the EU show important gains, suggesting costs are justified by the results.

Journal Article

Adults Willing to Pay Higher Premiums for Generous Specialty Drug Coverage — May 1, 2012

Coverage of specialty drugs for cancer and other diseases may be valued by healthy people thinking of future need as well as the sick. Surveyed US adults were willing to pay more for premiums than they would pay out of pocket with a less generous insurance plan, implying resistance to cost sharing on expensive drugs.

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Soeren Mattke

Soeren Mattke is a senior scientist at the RAND Corporation, where he directs RAND Health's efforts to address issues of importance to private-sector clients.

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Spotlight on Health Care Costs

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May 2012 RAND Health Newsletter

This month's Health newsletter includes a feature on RAND Health's research related to consumer behavior in health care cost containment, multimedia on the costs of medically unnecessary anesthesia, research into perceptions of childhood vaccination, and more.

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