With the number of Americans aged 65 and older doubling to 70 million by 2030, the National Academies issued a dire warning yesterday: The nation's health-care system is utterly unprepared to deal with the flood of geriatric health problems the aging population will have.
The academies' Institute of Medicine recommends urgent action to boost the number of family members, doctors and nurses trained to care for the elderly. Medicare, Medicaid and other health plans, for example, should increase pay to those who care for the aged to help attract health care workers to geriatrics, the report urged.
By 2030, the number of adults 65 and older will make up almost 20 percent of the population. Currently, this age group makes up 12 percent of the U.S. population and accounts for:
26 percent of all physician office visits
35 percent of all hospital stays
34 percent of all prescriptions
38 percent of all emergency-medical-service responses
90 percent of all nursing-home use
Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Monday, April 7, 2008
Data transfer software at heart of new e-health system
Telegraph-Journal
Published Monday April 7th, 2008
Appeared on page B1
The company building the digital image repository at the heart of the province's e-health system says its software will allow a patient's diagnostic information to be transferred quickly and securely across the province.
The digital image repository being built by Agfa Inc. is one of four major components of the province's one-patient, one-record e-health initiative.
It is the most expensive aspect of the project announced to date.
The two-year, $9-million project will allow the storage in a central data centre of diagnostic images and reports from X-rays, CT scans, ultrasounds and MRIs that will be accessible from any health care facility in the province.
Dave Wilson, director of marketing for imaging and informatics with Agfa HealthCare Canada, says the New Brunswick project is still in the planning stage.
"This is really an evolution of what the province started a long time ago," he says.
Many hospitals and regional health authorities are already using digital image repositories either built by Agfa or by General Electric.
In addition to the image repository, the other components of the e-health initiative include the client registry, the provider registry and the interoperable electronic health record.
The client registry is being built over two years by Initiate Systems Inc. for $1.9 million while the provider registry and interoperable health record are being built over two years by Orion Health for $4 million.
The province has awarded xwave a $5.6-million, three-year contract for systems integration and maintenance.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Health Care system Director Takes Heat
Betsey Bayless, the chief executive officer of the state's largest public-hospital system, is political royalty.
A prominent Republican, she has had a long career in public service and has earned a reputation as an efficient administrator and elected official. She ran the Department of Administration, served as secretary of state and earlier as a Maricopa County supervisor.
Her resume is impressive. But it was missing a key ingredient - experience with health-care management when Maricopa Integrated Health System's governing board hired her three years ago as its CEO, a position that now pays $368,000 yearly. Bayless' credentials have come under scrutiny since a national-accreditation organization found significant flaws with MIHS last year. Bayless said the rating, which has since been upgraded one step, does not reflect her performance, and most flaws involved documentation that did not affect patient care.
Bayless, 64, said one key goal has been to build a senior-management team with backgrounds in traditional hospital-management operations, from staffing to quality care and financing.
"I told the board, I am a government manager, I am not a health-care manager. I am who I am,' " she said in an interview late last week. "I said, 'I will have to have a health-care backup, people with health-care experience.' "
A prominent Republican, she has had a long career in public service and has earned a reputation as an efficient administrator and elected official. She ran the Department of Administration, served as secretary of state and earlier as a Maricopa County supervisor.
Her resume is impressive. But it was missing a key ingredient - experience with health-care management when Maricopa Integrated Health System's governing board hired her three years ago as its CEO, a position that now pays $368,000 yearly. Bayless' credentials have come under scrutiny since a national-accreditation organization found significant flaws with MIHS last year. Bayless said the rating, which has since been upgraded one step, does not reflect her performance, and most flaws involved documentation that did not affect patient care.
Bayless, 64, said one key goal has been to build a senior-management team with backgrounds in traditional hospital-management operations, from staffing to quality care and financing.
"I told the board, I am a government manager, I am not a health-care manager. I am who I am,' " she said in an interview late last week. "I said, 'I will have to have a health-care backup, people with health-care experience.' "
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