DLS|HEALTHCARE NEWS|October 08, 2015
A Weekly Compilation of Clinical Laboratory and Related Information
From The Division Of Laboratory Systems
Healthcare News Survey
October 08, 2015
News Highlights
Leading News
Notice: Healthcare News Subscriber Survey
All subscribers of Healthcare News should have received an e-mail with a link to a brief survey we are conducting to gather information concerning the newsletter. This OMB-approved survey should take no more than 10 minutes to complete and your responses will be entirely anonymous, so we hope that you will take a few moments to complete the survey. Your feedback and insight are important to us.
Thank you.
CDC Names Six New Medical Research Centers to Accelerate Health Care Innovations
Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Influenza: Information for Health Care Professionals
Scientists Create World's Largest Catalog of Human Genomic Variation
Laboratory Testing / Diagnostics
Amid Competing LDT Regulatory Proposals, Common Ground but Key Disagreements for Congress to Consider
Researcher Calls for Changes to Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines
Arteries Better Than Veins for Liquid Biopsy
Research and Development
The Genes behind Malaria Resistance May Reveal an Intriguing Evolutionary History
Study Links Asthma to Low Levels of Gut Bacteria in Newborns
University of Missouri Researchers Discover How IFITM Proteins Block HIV Cell-to-Cell Transmission
Public Health and Patient Safety
CDC Unveils Redesigned Healthy Pets Healthy People Website
Millions More Need H.I.V. Treatment, W.H.O. Says
New Antibiotic-Resistant 'Superbug' an Emerging Threat, CDC Says
Health IT and Other
Senate Committee Pushes for Health IT Interoperability
3 Growth Areas for Patient Engagement in Healthcare
ONC Reveals Final Interoperability Roadmap
View Previous Issues - Healthcare News Archive
Leading News
Top of Page
CDC Names Six New Medical Research Centers to Accelerate Health Care Innovations
New funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) more than doubled the number of CDC Prevention Epicenters. Six new American academic institutions join the five existing Epicenters working to discover new ways to protect patients from dangerous germs. It can be difficult and challenging to prevent the spread of dangerous diseases in health care facilities,” said CDC Director Tom Frieden, M.D., M.P.H. “To protect Americans, it’s critical that we develop the cutting edge science needed to stay ahead of the germs. The six institutions receiving these funds are doing just that.”
The additional institutions funded to identify infectious disease-related innovations from 2015 to 2018 are:
Emory University
The Johns Hopkins University
University of Illinois, Chicago
University of Iowa
University of Maryland, Baltimore
University of Utah
The new Prevention Epicenters will focus on projects that:
Prevent the spread of infectious germs in health care facilities, including Ebola virus
Evaluate best approaches to using personal protective equipment
Study novel approaches to minimizing the role of the health care environment in germ transmission
CDC’s existing Prevention Epicenters are:
Cook County Health & Hospital System and Rush University Medical Center
Duke University
Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and University of California, Irvine
University of Pennsylvania
Washington University
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/
Rapid Diagnostic Testing for Influenza: Information for Health Care Professionals
Rapid diagnostic tests for influenza can help in the diagnosis and management of patients who present with signs and symptoms compatible with influenza. They also are useful for helping to determine whether outbreaks of respiratory disease, such as in nursing homes and other settings, might be due to influenza.
Reliability and Interpretation of Rapid Test Results
Proper interpretation of test results is very important for accurate clinical management of patients with suspected influenza. The reliability of rapid diagnostic tests depends largely on the conditions under which they are used. Understanding some basic considerations can minimize being misled by false-positive or false-negative results.
Sensitivities of rapid influenza diagnostic tests are approximately 50-70%, and specificities of rapid diagnostic tests for influenza are approximately 90-95%, when compared with viral culture or reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR)
False-positive (and true-negative) results are more likely to occur when disease prevalence in the community is low, which is generally at the beginning and end of the influenza season.
False-negative (and true-positive) results are more likely to occur when disease prevalence is high in the community, which is typically at the height of the influenza season.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/
Scientists Create World's Largest Catalog of Human Genomic Variation
An international team of scientists from the 1000 Genomes Project Consortium has created the world's largest catalog of genomic differences among humans, providing researchers with powerful clues to help them establish why some people are susceptible to various diseases. While most differences in peoples' genomes - called variants - are harmless, some are beneficial, while others contribute to diseases and conditions, ranging from cognitive disabilities to susceptibilities to cancer, obesity, diabetes, heart disease and other disorders. Understanding how genomic variants contribute to disease may help clinicians develop improved diagnostics and treatments, in addition to new methods of prevention. The National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), helped fund and direct this international public-private consortium of researchers in the United States, the United Kingdom, China, Germany and Canada. In two studies published online on Sept. 30, 2015, in Nature, investigators examined the genomes of 2,504 people from 26 populations across Africa, East and South Asia, Europe and the Americas.
Source: http://www.genome.gov/
Nobel Prize in Medicine Awarded to 3 Scientists for Parasite-Fighting Therapies
Three scientists who used modern laboratory techniques to discover anti-parasitic drugs long hidden in herbs and soil won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine on Monday. Their drug therapies “have revolutionized the treatment of some of the most devastating parasitic diseases,” the Nobel Committee of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm said in announcing the winners. They are William C. Campbell, formerly of New Jersey, and Satoshi Omura of Japan, who share one-half of the $960,000 award; and Tu Youyou of China, who won the other half. Dr. Campbell and Dr. Omura developed Avermectin, the parent of Ivermectin, a medicine that has nearly eradicated river blindness and radically reduced the incidence of filariasis, which can cause the disfiguring swelling of the lymph system in the legs and lower body known as elephantiasis.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded to Tomas Lindahl, Paul Modrich and Aziz Sancar for DNA Studies
Tomas Lindahl, Paul L. Modrich and Aziz Sancar were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for having mapped and explained how the cell repairs its DNA and safeguards its genetic information. Dr. Lindahl, of the Francis Crick Institute in London, was honored for his discoveries on base excision repair — the cellular mechanism that repairs damaged DNA during the cell cycle. Dr. Modrich, of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Duke University School of Medicine, was recognized for showing how cells correct errors that occur when DNA is replicated during cell division. Dr. Sancar, of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, was cited for mapping the mechanism cells use to repair ultraviolet damage to DNA.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
Laboratory Testing / Diagnostics
Top of Page
Amid Competing LDT Regulatory Proposals, Common Ground but Key Disagreements for Congress to Consider
Congress currently has before it legislative proposals for regulating laboratory developed tests (LDTs) from three influential groups — the Diagnostic Test Working Group, the Association for Molecular Pathology, and the College of American Pathologists.
CAP, which issued a plan most recently, wants to improve regulation for the majority of LDTs through the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments, except for high-risk tests, which the organization said should be overseen by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
AMP's approach is also CLIA-focused, but instead of LDTs, the group uses the term lab-developed procedures (LDPs). AMP would also have high-risk LDTs overseen by FDA, except multi-analyte algorithm-based assays (MAAAs) are the only tests in its high-risk category. These tests could also be overseen under CLIA, according to AMP, but the labs would have to reveal their proprietary algorithms to reviewers.
The DTWG's plan, meanwhile, would create a whole new category of tests, dubbed in vitro clinical tests (IVCTs) — a term that could describe LDTs or kits. Under this plan, FDA would have authority over test development and validation, CMS would remain in charge of traditional lab activities necessary to perform tests, and states would oversee accuracy of test interpretation. As previously reported by GenomeWeb, the DTWG involves Becton Dickinson, Roche, Mayo Clinic, LabCorp, Abbott, and ARUP Labs.
Source: https://www.genomeweb.com/
Researcher Calls for Changes to Colorectal Cancer Screening Guidelines
Screening is the most effective way to reduce the risk of dying from the disease, yet as a Penn Medicine physician argues in an editorial in the journalGastroenterology, current recommendations to screen older people with a family history of colorectal cancer, specifically with colonoscopy every five years, is not justified for most patients. Chyke A. Doubeni, MD, MPH, chair of the department of Family Medicine and Community Health at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, is the co-author of the editorial. The editorial discusses the state-of-the-science in the context of a new study published in that issue of Gastroenterology that followed 144,768 men and women aged 55 to 74 for 13 years to determine the risk of colorectal cancer in those with a history of colorectal cancer in a first degree relative.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Cervical Cancer Screening: Experts Weigh-In
The real world of clinical practice rarely mirrors the screening recommendations developed by expert panels, and this week in Annals of Internal Medicine Harvard's Jane J. Kim, PhD, and colleagues explored that divide in a modeling study and concluded that as practiced, the current recommendations are inefficient. MedPage Today sought to explore the issue in greater depth by convening an e-discussion panel that includes Kim, as well as a variety of specialists with unique clinical experience. Old habits are hard to change, and Kim's paper drives home that point, explained John Thorp, MD, professor and division director of women's primary healthcare at UNC Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology, noting that it "focuses on the first big development-viral detection-showing that clinicians and patients can abandon the age old idea of the annual Pap and save money without sacrificing lives. This is a hard concept to change as before these discoveries annual cytology was effective, Gyn and family practices arranged care models around the annual exam, and women were taught how crucial this was by mothers and teachers." There were, however, some limitations to the study. For example, Stephanie V. Blank, MD, director of the gynecologic oncology fellowship at NYU Langone Medical Center pointed out that primary HPV screening has the potential to be cost effective, yet the authors did not consider it as a testing strategy.
Source: http://www.medpagetoday.com/
Arteries Better Than Veins for Liquid Biopsy
Arteries contain higher numbers of circulating tumor cells than veins in uveal melanoma patients, raising a concern for standard technique for detection of tumor cells in the blood. As the field of liquid biopsies for tracking disease progression and therapeutic response heats up, many doctors are looking for ways to apply this approach to their patients. Currently, assays for circulating tumor cells (CTCs) – one type of liquid biopsy – have been approved for diagnostic purposes in metastatic breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer. In these diseases, the presence of CTCs in the peripheral blood is associated with decreased progression-free survival and decreased overall survival. The major challenge for this technology is that CTCs are not always found in the blood of patients with aggressive disease who would be expected to have high numbers. Now, researchers at Thomas Jefferson University investigating uveal melanoma, a type of melanoma that originates in the eye, have shown that the low numbers could simply be explained by where the blood is drawn – whether from a vein or an artery. In breast cancer, a high number of CTCs (more than 5 cells in 7.5 ml of blood collected from the veins) indicates aggressive metastatic disease, or disease that has stopped responding to treatment. "If we can validate this approach for uveal melanoma, we hope to be able to catch cancer before it develops into metastatic disease," says Takami Sato, M.D., the K. Hasumi Professor of Medical Oncology at Thomas Jefferson University and lead investigator on the paper.
Source: http://www.newswise.com/
Women Find a Fertility Test Isn't as Reliable as They'd Like
Women concerned about their fertility can use a test to help decide whether they should freeze their eggs now or whether they still have time to have a baby. But this test, called an ovarian reserve test, is often ambiguous and can be misinterpreted. Some fertility specialists worry that many women will be misled by their results, leading some to feel pressured to freeze their eggs when they don't need to and others to miss their best window to do so.
Source: http://www.npr.org/
Optical Sensor-Driven Device Can Count White Blood Cells through the Skin
An international team of researchers has developed a portable device for placing on the fingertip that counts white blood cells without a blood test. The technology—which combines an optical sensor with algorithms—is designed for use on chemotherapy patients, who could know their immune system levels in real time. It could also have utility in detecting serious infections. The project, known as Leuko, has been financed by Madrid-MIT M+Visión, a consortium that seeks to foster collaboration between research centers and hospitals in the region of Madrid with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT; Cambridge, MA) and other centers in the Boston area. The Center of Future Technologies in Cancer Care and the Coulter Foundation are also supporting the project.
Source: http://www.bioopticsworld.com/
Simple and Cheap Electrochemical Assay to Detect Proteins in Minutes
The Montreal team, working with a scientist from Rome, have developed a straightforward, yet highly selective assay for rapid detection of proteins in whole blood, by taking advantage of steric hindrance effects on pairing of complementary DNA strands, as reported in the September issue of theJournal of the American Chemical Society. Steric effects occur when atoms in close proximity create cost in energy as a result of overlapping electron clouds, which affect reactivity of molecules. In the absence of proteins, binding of complementary DNA strands generates a detectable flow of electrical current. However, when proteins such as antibodies are present, steric effects reduce the signal.
Source: http://www.medgadget.com/
Americans Awareness of Genetic Testing Increasing, Survey Finds
A new survey shows 73 percent of Americans are aware of genetic testing for hereditary cancers—a significant increase over just a few years ago that is largely attributed to the "Angelina Jolie Effect." However, the survey also found that many lack knowledge of their own family health history and there is a strong desire for guidance when considering genetic testing. As a result, genetic testing company Invitae (San Francisco), which sponsored the survey, is launching a new program, Your Genes. Your Voice. Your Choice, to encourage people to talk to their clinicians about their risks for hereditary cancer. The Genetic Risk Awareness Study was conducted online in June 2015 and randomly sampled more than 1,000 U.S. adults.
Source: http://www.g2intelligence.com/
Research and Development
Top of Page
The Genes behind Malaria Resistance May Reveal an Intriguing Evolutionary History
The genetic variations that protect against malaria may have a long history. Scientists have identified new sets of genes that may make people resistant to malaria. Caused by a mosquito-transmitted parasite, malaria kills over half a million people each year -- most of them young children. But for all the hundreds of thousands of children who die of the disease, many more show an incredible resistance to it. In Africa, where the parasite is everywhere, plenty of individuals never become ill from it. Scientists have long looked for genetic differences in these fortunate individuals -- and they've already found a few. The most famous one is the gene that causes sickle cell anemia: While two copies of that gene cause a disease that's devastating in its own right, a single copy creates a healthy child with strong malarial resistance. In a study published in Nature, researchers report at least one confirmed new set of genes that aids in resistance. They've also provided dozens of other areas of the genome that they believe could be of note. The research was done by MalariaGEN, an international network of scientists and clinicians spread across Africa, Asia and other malaria-endemic regions of the world, which is funded primarily by the Wellcome Trust. The study is one of the largest ever of its kind, using over 20,000 samples from eight different African populations.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/
Study Links Asthma to Low Levels of Gut Bacteria in Newborns
Scientists have linked the dearth of four types of gut bacteria to asthma, the respiratory disease that has risen explosively in the past 50 years and now afflicts up to a fifth of children in Western countries. The researchers discovered that low levels of the bacteria in newborns put them at an increased risk of getting asthma later in life. Infants usually acquire bacteria naturally and are protected. But the increased prevalence of certain events—the use of antibiotics by pregnant women, delivery by caesarean section, urban living and formula feeding—may make it harder for newborns to acquire the needed bacteria, scientists say. The finding, published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, is significant because it could be used to develop a simple, stool-based diagnostic test to predict asthma risk in infants. More ambitiously, it could also guide the development of probiotic treatments to prevent the disease.
Source: http://www.wsj.com/
University of Missouri Researchers Discover How IFITM Proteins Block HIV Cell-to-Cell Transmission
Researchers at the University of Missouri have gained an unprecedented level of understanding in how Interferon Induced Transmembranes (IFITM) proteins serve an antiviral function and help inhibit HIV. The recent findings on IFITM proteins were part of a study headed by University of Missouri Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology Associate Professor Shan-Lu Liu who serves as an investigator in the Bond Life Sciences Center. "In HIV and AIDS research, scientists are constantly learning more about virus transmission and host response to viral infections,” said Liu. “By understanding and visualizing how some IFITM proteins can inhibit and block transmission, we are getting closer to finding better therapeutic approaches in the fight against HIV."
Source: http://vaccinenewsdaily.com/
Meta-Analysis Links Five New Variants to Brain Cancer Risk
The team led by ICR's Richard Houlston conducted a meta-analysis that drew upon more than 4,000 cases and nearly 7,500 controls, and after genotyping an additional 1,500 cases and 1,700 controls, they linked five new variants to brain cancer risk, bringing the total number of risk variants to 12, as reported in Nature Communications today. All together, these 12 risk variants explain about 12 percent of the variation in glioma risk. One of these new variants, the research team added, increased glioblastoma susceptibility by some 23 percent. "One of the risk factors we identified is linked to quite a dramatically increased chance of developing glioblastoma, a particularly aggressive kind of brain cancer," Houlston said in a statement. "Our study sheds fresh light on the biology of gliomas, and could provide clues to why the disease develops, and how it could be treated or prevented."
Source: https://www.genomeweb.com/
Mislabeled Genomes to Be Fixed
The Scientist has written plenty about contamination, and in no small way about mislabeled genomes in databases. At an American Society for Microbiology conference held in Washington, DC, there was apparently some exciting talk outlining what to do about it. On his blog, Mike the Mad Biologist (MtMB) applauded the National Center for Biotechnology Information’s (NCBI) pledge to correct genome entries assigned to the wrong species. According to MtMB, Scott Federhen spoke about his group’s microbial taxonomy initiative, which involves cleaning up inaccurately named genomes.
Source: http://www.the-scientist.com/
Riboswitch Flip Kills Bacteria
Researchers at the pharmaceutical company Merck have identified a new bacteria-killing compound with an unusual target—an RNA regulatory structure called a riboswitch. The team used its drug, described in Nature today (September 30), to successfully reduce an experimental bacterial infection in mice, suggesting that the molecule could lead to the creation of a new antibiotic. Moreover, the results indicate that riboswitches—and other RNA elements—might be hitherto unappreciated targets for antibiotics and other drugs.
Source: http://www.the-scientist.com/
Neutrophil, Lymphocyte Ratio May Predict Survival in Head and Neck Cancer
Neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio (NLR) may be a strong predictor of overall survival in oral, pharyngeal, and laryngeal squamous cell carcinomas, according to a recent study published online in the journal Head & Neck. Researchers led by Saleh Rachidi, BS, of the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston conducted a retrospective study of pretreatment neutrophil and lymphocyte counts as well as NLR in correlation with overall survival in patients with head and neck cancer. “Current prognostic criteria are insufficient in predicting outcomes in head and neck cancer, necessitating new, readily available biomarkers,” the authors noted.
Source: http://www.cancertherapyadvisor.com/
Migrating Birds May Bring Exotic Ticks to U.S.
Ticks can travel from Central and South America to the United States by hitching rides on migratory birds, a new study reveals. Some of these ticks may be carrying infectious diseases with them, the researchers said. However, there is no evidence that any ticks from these regions have established permanent populations in the United States, according to the study published in the Oct. 2 issue of Applied and Environmental Microbiology.
Source: http://consumer.healthday.com/
Nonfamilial Breast Cancer Risk Could Be Predicted by Genetic Alterations
Researchers have identified a number of genetic alterations in breast cells that could signify an increased risk of sporadic breast cancer. These alterations could help clinicians make earlier breast cancer diagnoses in the future. The study, published in Genome Research, was carried out by collaborating researchers from Sweden, Poland and the US, led by Prof. Jan Dumanski, of the Department of Immunology, Genetics and Pathology at Uppsala University, Sweden. "This opens up possibilities to develop diagnostic methods that could identify women who are at risk for developing breast cancer, before the tumor is formed and much earlier than it can be detected by [...] mammography," Prof. Dumanski explains.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Public Health and Patient Safety
Top of Page
CDC Unveils Redesigned Healthy Pets Healthy People Website
CDC launched its redesigned Healthy Pets Healthy People website, with expanded information about diseases people can catch from pets, farm animals, and wildlife. Users can now search alphabetically by animal and learn which zoonotic diseases they may carry. It is a unique “one-stop shop” where people can learn simple actions to protect themselves – and their pets.
The redesigned website offers:
An alphabetized list and description of diseases that can spread from animals to humans.
A list of animal species with the description of diseases associated with the animal.
Specific groups of people that may be more susceptible to diseases from animals.
Tips for preventing illnesses acquired from pets and other animals.
Detailed information about the health benefits of owning a pet.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/
Millions More Need H.I.V. Treatment, W.H.O. Says
The World Health Organization issued sweeping new guidelines that could put millions more people on H.I.V. drugs than are now getting them. The recommendations could go a long way toward halting the epidemic, health officials say, but would cost untold billions of dollars not yet committed. H.I.V. patients should be put on an antiretroviral therapy of three drugs immediately after diagnosis, the agency said, and everyone at risk of becoming infected should be offered protective doses of similar drugs. Immediate treatment has become the standard of care in America and much of the developed world, but the agency’s new H.I.V. treatment and prevention guidelines increase by nine million the number of infected people who should get it worldwide.
Source: http://www.nytimes.com/
CDC Supports New WHO Early Release HIV Treatment and PrEP Guidelines
CDC welcomes announcement by the World Health Organization (WHO) of new Early Release HIV Treatment and Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) guidelines that will significantly increase the number of people eligible for life-saving anti-retroviral treatment (ART) and expand access to a powerful tool for preventing HIV among those at greatest risk. These recommendations are a major step forward in the global fight against HIV. They have the potential to dramatically reduce transmission of HIV worldwide, increase the widespread use of PrEP among those who need it most, and help those living with HIV live longer, healthier lives. The new WHO guidelines call for treatment for all individuals living with HIV – regardless of CD4 count. This is a dramatic shift from existing WHO guidelines that recommend ART for those with compromised immune systems (CD4 counts less than 500) and other vulnerable populations such as children, pregnant women, and people with TB. The new guidelines also recommend daily oral PrEP as an additional prevention choice for those at substantial risk for contracting HIV as part of a combination prevention approach.
Source: http://www.cdc.gov/
High Standards of Care Associated with Reduced Mortality Risk of Patients with HIV
Quality of care (QOC) in the first twelve months after entering HIV care is associated with longer-term mortality risk, investigators from the US Department of Veterans Affairs report in the online edition of Clinical Infectious Diseases. Patients who received at least 80% of recommended quality indicators (QIs) were 25% less likely to die during follow-up when compared to patients who received less than 80% of QIs. Good outcomes were observed in patients with drug or alcohol problems who received high levels of care. “The current study finds that HIV-infected patients who receive high QOC experience improved mortality,” comment the authors. “High quality care provided by healthcare systems and providers may translate into decreased mortality for their patients.”
Source: http://www.aidsmap.com/
New Antibiotic-Resistant 'Superbug' an Emerging Threat, CDC Says
A relatively new antibiotic-resistant bacteria called CRE is making inroads in some major American cities, U.S. health officials report. Surveillance of seven U.S. metropolitan areas found higher-than-expected levels of CRE in Atlanta, Baltimore and New York City, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lower-than-expected levels were found in Albuquerque, Denver and Portland, Ore., while the Minneapolis rate was what the agency anticipated. But CDC researchers were dismayed that they found active cases of CRE infection in every city they examined, said senior author Dr. Alexander Kallen, a CDC medical officer. The results support the CDC's decision to promote coordinated regional efforts to prevent the spread of CRE and other antibiotic-resistant germs, Kallen said.
Source: http://consumer.healthday.com/
Flu Vaccine May Also Protect against Pneumonia
Getting a flu shot may protect you not only from flu, but also from pneumonia, the leading cause of flu-related hospitalizations and deaths, a new study suggests. Most children and adults hospitalized for flu-related pneumonia haven't had a flu shot, the researchers said. "Influenza vaccine can substantially reduce the risk of hospitalizations for influenza pneumonia, a serious complication of influenza infections," said lead researcher Dr. Carlos Grijalva, an associate professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville. "We estimate that approximately 57 percent of hospitalizations due to influenza pneumonia could be prevented by influenza vaccination," he said. The report was published online Oct. 5 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
Source: http://consumer.healthday.com/
Type 1 Diabetes Prevention: Insulin Vaccine Undergoes Second Trial
A vaccination against type 1 diabetes will soon also be available to young children: the Pre-POINTearly vaccination study will involve children between the ages of six months and two years from across Germany who have a first-degree relative with type 1 diabetes. In the preceding Pre-POINT study a positive immune response was triggered in children aged between two and seven years with the aid of powdered insulin. The follow-up Pre-POINTearly study will now test whether this effect can be confirmed by giving very young children oral insulin, and whether type 1 diabetes can be prevented in the long term.
Source: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/
Health IT
Top of Page
Senate Committee Pushes for Health IT Interoperability
The Senate HELP Committee drilled down on interoperability and EHR meaningful use during its Oct. 1 hearing on achieving the promise of health information technology. Top officials from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) served as panelists in the sixth installment of the committee’s series of hearings. Committee Chairman Lamar Alexander (R-TN) continued his recent push to immediately finalize Stage 2 meaningful use rules and to postpone Stage 3 finalization until the beginning of 2017 at the earliest. “Patients need an interoperable system that enables doctors and hospitals to share their records, but they need time to do it right,” he said in his opening remarks, noting that only 12 percent of doctors and 40 percent of hospitals currently comply with Stage 2.
Source: http://healthitinteroperability.com/
3 Growth Areas for Patient Engagement in Healthcare
Patient engagement has been one of the key trends in healthcare and health IT in 2015 and a new Deloitte survey examines where engagement is growing the most and what it means for the industry. One trick to patient engagement, the report's authors say, is "coming up with a set of strategies that will work across the consumer segments that are present in the market--one strategy will not fit all." The Deloitte survey has been conducted every year since 2008; this year's survey polled roughly 3,500 consumers 18 years and older between Jan. 16 and Feb. 8.
Three areas where engagement is seeing the most momentum, the researchers found, include:
1. Use of technology
2. Provider interaction
3. The power of the Internet
Source: http://www.fiercehealthit.com/
ONC Reveals Final Interoperability Roadmap
ONC finalized its eagerly awaited interoperability roadmap. "Data needs to be free," said national coordinator Karen DeSalvo, MD. "If we're going to change the care model we need an information model to support it." That thinking is at the heart of the report, Connecting Health and Care for the Nation: A Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap, which DeSalvo labeled a critical part of the broader delivery system reform effort. The three overarching themes of the roadmap are: giving consumers the ability to access and share their health data, ceasing all intentional or inadvertent information blocking, and adopting federally-recognized national interoperability standards.
Source: http://www.healthcareitnews.com/
ONC: Docs Sharing Data More with Patients Than Other Providers
Physicians increasingly are sharing patient health information, but are doing so more with patients than with other providers, according to a new data brief published by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. The brief, which attributes payment reform as the primary driver for the change, found that 57 percent of physicians electronically shared health information with patients in 2014, up from 46 percent in 2013. Fifty-two percent exchanged secure messages with patients, up from 40 percent in 2013; 47 percent had patients view, download and/or transmit data in 2014, up from 33 percent. Data sharing also increased from provider to provider, but in lower numbers.
Source: http://www.fierceemr.com/story/
Healthcare Data Standards: Tool Assesses Breast Cancer Risk
Statistical analysis has been deployed in the fight against breast cancer, which claims the lives of more than 40,000 U.S. women each year. An online risk calculator developed by the National Cancer Institute-funded Breast Cancer Surveillance Consortium (BCSC) is helping to create a reliable health data standard for estimating five- and 10-year invasive breast cancer risk based on a combination of factors. “Our tool is unique in that it combines both breast density and biopsy results,” said Charlotte Gard, assistant professor of applied statistics at New Mexico State University and a consultant for the BCSC project. “It’s the only risk assessment tool that includes BI-RADS breast density — the breast density [measure] that’s used in clinical practice.” BI-RADS stands for the Breast Imaging Reporting and Data System of the American College of Rad