About 45 percent of Americans with atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (ASCVD) experience financial hardship related to medical bills, despite most of them having health insurance, according to a new paper published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.
Living in food deserts—residential areas with low net income and poor access to healthy food—was independently linked to adverse outcomes in patients with coronary artery disease in a study of nearly 5,000 subjects, researchers reported Feb. 11 in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Increasing physicians’ bonus sizes was linked to significantly improved quality of care for their patients, according to a study from a single health system published Feb. 8 in JAMA Network Open. However, adding the behavioral economic principles of social pressure and loss aversion failed to further improve providers’ effectiveness.
Research gathered as part of Irish Life Health’s annual fitness challenge has revealed the cardiovascular health of some local 15-year-olds is comparable to that of 55- or 60-year-olds—something experts are attributing to low levels of physical activity among the country’s youth.
Tennessee Interventional Imaging Associates (TIAA) reached an agreement with Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Erlanger Health System to remain its radiology service provider, according to the Times Free Press. The parties had previously been in a contract dispute that threatened the hospital’s premier stroke program.
Cardiovascular diagnoses such as chest pain and atherosclerotic heart disease are key drivers of outpatient payments, which accounted for almost 57 percent of hospitals’ net patient revenue in 2017, according to data compiled by Definitive Healthcare.
A contract dispute between Chattanooga, Tennessee-based Erlanger Health System and Tennessee Interventional and Imaging Associates (TIAA) is threatening to upend the hospital’s premiere stroke program, according to documents obtained by the Times Free Press.
UnitedHealthcare partnered with Medtronic Feb. 1 to make the device company’s MiniMed 670G insulin pump system its preferred pump for diabetics aged 7 and up—a move the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) calls “an unacceptable step backward” and says effectively limits patients’ choices to one product.
ProvideGx, a subsidiary of Premier, will begin its offerings with metoprolol, a beta-blocker that can treat blood pressure and angina and is commonly given to heart attack patients.
Spending growth per Medicare beneficiary has slowed considerably since 2005, and 56 percent of that decline can be linked to reduced spending on cardiovascular disease and related risk factors, researchers reported Feb. 4 in Health Affairs.
Researchers predicted 12,400 additional deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) could occur in England between 2021 and 2030 if the United Kingdom severs preferential trading agreements with the European Union (EU) and prices of fruits and vegetables are impacted.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital in St. Petersburg, Florida, could lose its Medicare funding if it doesn’t shape up after a recent inspection found serious problems at the institution, The Tampa Bay Times reported.
