“Coronavirus case numbers are in free fall; vaccines and, to a lesser degree, viral infections have built up a wall of immunity that can blunt the virus’s impact overall. Several experts stressed that certain aspects of the CDC’s new guidelines are genuinely improving on the framework the country was using before. “The timing feels right to make some kind of change,” Whitney Robinson, an epidemiologist at Duke University, told me. But protection against SARS-CoV-2 isn’t spread equally. Millions of kids under 5 are still ineligible for shots. Vaccine effectiveness declines faster in older individuals and is patchy to begin with … Read More
All posts by Anupam
“The USA TODAY Network in New England and the Documenting COVID-19 project partnered to investigate how New England became a positive data anomaly in terms of COVID death reporting accuracy. Across the region, excess deaths during the pandemic are almost completely accounted for by official COVID deaths, according to our analysis of Centers for Disease Control and Prevention mortality data and expected death models developed by demographers at Boston University. In other parts of the country, these COVID deaths were missed or certified incorrectly as other causes. [..] Hospitals are a dominant and central data source to capture the pandemic’s … Read More
“For most of its existence, the data economy was structured around a “digital curtain” designed to obscure the industry’s practices from lawmakers and the public. Data was considered company property and a proprietary secret, even though the data originated from customers’ private behavior. That curtain has since been lifted and a convergence of consumer, government, and market forces are now giving users more control over the data they generate. Instead of serving as a resource that can be freely harvested, countries in every region of the world have begun to treat personal data as an asset owned by individuals and … Read More
“[Introduction] Shared decision-making is a strategy to improve communication and health care delivery by reducing unwarranted variation and improving quality of treatment decisions, particularly for conditions where evidence supports multiple treatment choices without a single superior option. In such “preference-sensitive” treatment scenarios, shared decision-making promotes a collaborative decision that is consistent with evidence-based practices and patient preferences and values. Obstructive sleep-disordered breathing (OSDB) is a common condition in children for which decisions for surgery with tonsillectomy are often dependent on family preferences. The treatment decisions are considered preference sensitive because of a lack of definitive evidence for a single best … Read More
“β-Blockers and angiotensin-converting enzyme inhibitors/angiotensin receptor blockers (ACE-I/ARBs) are beneficial after AMI [acute myocardial infarction], and adjustment of these medications to moderate to high doses is recommended in the setting of reduced LV ejection fraction (LVEF) or heart failure. Initiation and adjustment of these medications can be challenging during hospitalization, particularly among patients with borderline or low systemic blood pressure because of an emphasis on shortening length of stay and the challenges in organizing frequent face-to-face visits early after discharge. Telemedicine has enabled the transition from face-to-face care and is set to play a key role in the post–coronavirus disease-19 … Read More
“Digital health is a broad spectrum of measurement technologies that include personal wearable devices and internal devices as well as sensors in people, homes, cars, and communities. Digital health can help identify health risks and assist with diagnosis, treatment, and monitoring of health and disease conditions and offers novel ways to capture continuous data on individuals and populations that complement the episodic data on individuals that are captured by current health care approaches. [..] Digital health technologies may enhance capabilities for improving health through 3 modalities: improved data communications, miniaturization, and decentralization of devices. Electronic medical records, mobile health apps, … Read More
“[Introduction] [..] Privileged US citizens—including thought and physician leaders—may tolerate this underperformance as applying to “others,” dismissing comparisons as mean values that do not reflect the quality of their own personal care. Privileged US citizens believe that their social connections and financial resources allow them to choose the best physicians and hospitals for their own care, thereby ensuring excellent health outcomes. One study showed that the wealthiest quintile receive 43% more health care than the poorest quintile and 23% more than middle-income US citizens. Privileged US citizens may believe that their resources ensure that they receive the world’s best health … Read More
“Hypertension affects 46% of the adult population in the United States and is a leading risk factor for disability, cardiovascular morbidity, and mortality. Although treatment reduces morbidity and mortality, approximately 17% to 20% of patients using antihypertensive medications have apparent treatment-resistant hypertension, defined as inadequately controlled blood pressure (BP) with 3 antihypertensive medications, including a diuretic, or a requirement for at least 4 antihypertensive medications to achieve adequate control. Compared with patients who require fewer antihypertensive agents, those with apparent treatment-resistant hypertension are at increased risk for cardiovascular and all-cause mortality, independent of BP control. High-quality evidence supports the use … Read More
Here is this week’s refresh of the excess mortality count from the CDC (last updated December 23). The federal agency identified over 387,000 excess deaths across the country since the start of this year (about 20 thousand more than last week’s estimate). The overall excess mortality rate rose from 12.0% last week to 12.3% this week. Data from CDC’s National Center of Health Statistics, updated December 23, 2020
“[Introduction] In this study, we aim to build on the existing research by analyzing the association of the adoption of EPCS [electronic prescribing of controlled substances] with opioid prescribing across the United States. We specifically examine trends in the adoption and use of EPCS and 2 measures of opioid prescribing across the United States from 2010 to 2018. In doing so, we aim to provide policy makers, prescribers, and patients with evidence of the association of the use of EPCS with the opioid epidemic. [..] [Methods] [..] We used data from annual reports published by Surescripts, a near-monopoly supplier of … Read More