pmc
DSHS Cuts and You 0
On July 1, 2009, DSHS will enact the second of three proposed changes to the Durable Medical Equipment and Supplies program (DME). Products in this category include Wheelchairs, Walkers, Bathroom Equipment, Incontinence Products, Oral Nutrition and others. On January 1,…- Professional Medical
- Tags: Coverage Health Care Medicaid (DSHS) News Reform
Walgreens to Withdraw 44 WA Pharmacies from Medicaid Program 0
On Monday, Walgreens announced that it will pull 44 of 111 WA pharmacies from the Medicaid program, while some of the remaining pharmacies will stop accepting new Medicaid patients for prescription services.
Many facilities cannot sustain the increasing costs of supplies and a drop in reimbursements, and are forced to make the difficult decision to stop serving Medicaid patients.
Drugstore company Walgreen Co said on Monday it would pull almost half its pharmacies in Washington state from the U.S. Medicaid program in protest against the state’s plan to cut reimbursements for drugs.
Cash-strapped Washington state plans to insist on cheaper, generic drugs for low-income Medicaid clients whenever available and equivalent to brand-name drugs, and is also cutting the rate of reimbursements on all drugs to pharmacies which supply them.
- Professional Medical
- Tags: Medicaid (DSHS) News
Call Your (Grand)Parents! 0
Older adults who lack family and friends, or who feel lonely despite having others around them, tend to be in poorer physical and mental health, a new study finds.
Researchers found that among roughly 3,000 U.S. adults ages 57 to 85, those with few social connections were less likely to describe their physical health as good or excellent. Meanwhile, those who felt socially isolated — even if they had friends, family and social activities — tended to report poorer physical and mental well-being.
The findings, reported in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior, add to evidence linking social connections to older adults’ health.
But they also suggest that older people’s actual social support and their perceptions of that support each have independent effects, according to the researchers.
“Most older adults will experience significant changes in their social relationships due to things like retirement and bereavement, for example,” said lead researcher Dr. Erin York Cornwell, of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York.
More after the jump.
Source: Journal of Health and Social Behavior, March 2009
- Professional Medical
- Tags: Caregiving News Studies
Maggots No Wonder Cure 0
Hmm.. I think I’ll pass on the flesh-eating maggots.
LONDON (Reuters) – Putting flesh-eating maggots into open wounds may not be such a great idea after all.
They do clean wounds more quickly than normal treatment but this does not lead to faster healing, results of the world’s first controlled clinical trial of maggot medicine showed on Friday.
Some patients also found so-called larval therapy more painful, according to the study in the British Medical Journal.
Gruesome as it sounds, maggots have a long history in medicine. Napoleon’s battle surgeon was a maggot enthusiast, and they were put to work during the American Civil War and in the trenches in World War One.
More recently, medical experts have been looking again at the creatures’ healing powers, including their potential to prevent dangerous infections like methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA).
To find out more, researchers at Britain’s University of York recruited 267 patients with venous leg ulcers and treated them either with maggots or hydrogel, a standard wound-cleaning product.
They found no significant difference in outcomes or cost.
More after the jump.
Source: Reuters
The Importance of Ambulatory Equipment 0
It has been estimated that about 1.5 million people in the United States use walkers. Approximately 30% – 50% of patients abandon their ambulation aid soon after it’s delivered to them. This reveals the importance of an appropriate device selection, proper…- Professional Medical
- Tags: Ambulatory Mobility Products Safety
