New poll: Providers aren't doing enough to warn older patients about opioids

  

Insurance churn linked to five-fold increase in hospital stays & ER visits for adults with type 1 diabetes

For a million American adults, living with type 1 diabetes means a constant need for insulin medication, blood sugar testing supplies, and specialized care, to keep them healthy and prevent a crisis that could end in an emergency room visit, a hospital stay, or even death.

But a new study finds that one in four working-age adults with type 1 diabetes had at least one gap of at least 30 days in their private health insurance, within an average of a three-year period. The study was published in Health Affairs and led by Mary Rogers, Ph.D., M.S., research associate professor of internal medicine.

READ MORE

U-M researchers discover trend in skyrocketing alcohol-related cirrhosis deaths in young adults

Deaths from cirrhosis rose in all but one state between 1999-2016, with increases seen most often among young adults, according to a new study  published in the journal BMJ and led by liver specialist and U-M assistant professor of internal medicine  Elliot B. Tapper, M.D. The deaths linked to the end stages of liver damage jumped by 65 percent with alcohol a major cause, adults age 25-34 the biggest victims and fatalities highest among whites, American Indians, and Hispanics.

Tapper says he's witnessed the disturbing shift in demographics among the patients with liver failure he treats at Michigan Medicine. National data collected by Tapper and study co-author Neehar Parikh, M.D., M.S., U-M clinical lecturer of internal medicine, confirms that in communities across the country more young people are drinking themselves to death.

READ MORE

New York Times article

CNN article

NPR article

Pre-surgery opioid use could signal post-surgery risk, study suggests

A new U-M study shows which kinds of patients are most likely to be taking opioid pain medications before they have surgery, and could help guide surgical teams toward safer prescribing for post-surgery pain control and overdose prevention. Researchers looked at how often patients scheduled for surgery at U-M hospitals said they were already using opioids, and what surgery types and patient characteristics were linked to a greater chance of such use.

The study ("Prevalence of Preoperative Opioid Use and Characteristics Associated With Opioid Use Among Patients Presenting for Surgery"), published online in JAMA Surgery, finds that nearly a quarter of surgery patients at Michigan Medicine, U-M's academic medical center, were already taking opioid pain medicine before their operation.

READ MORE

State opioid monitoring programs: Not all created equal

States that have struggled with opioid abuse might want to take a look at prescription drug monitoring programs in Kentucky, New Mexico, Tennessee, and New York ---- states that have significantly reduced opioid dosages, according to a new study led by Rebecca Haffajee, Ph.D., J.D., U-M assistant professor of public health.

READ MORE

A rare instance when preventative screening is worth the dollar cost

Very few people know about hepatitis B, the so-called silent killer, and the billions of dollars it costs the U.S. health care system. The hepatitis B virus can cause chronic infection that is usually asymptomatic for decades until it leads to costly, debilitating liver cirrhosis or liver cancer.

David Hutton, Ph.D., M.S., U-M associate professor of public health, is a researcher interested in how consumers spend health care dollars wisely to boost the health of the population. The World Health Organization is appealing to countries to significantly increase screening and treatment of hepatitis B to reduce hepatitis deaths by 65 percent. But this is costly and the U.S. has other competing health priorities. Hutton and his colleagues recently addressed the question in Health Affairs and concluded it is a valuable public health initiative that could potentially save almost half a billion dollars in the long run.

READ MORE

Why bariatric surgery wait times have nearly doubled in 10 years

In the first multi-institutional look at bariatric surgery wait times in the United States, surgeons examined data collected by the Michigan Bariatric Surgery Collaborative (MBSC) on 60,791 patients who had bariatric surgery in Michigan.

"Prolonged wait times can be discouraging and increase the chance that patients will drop their pursuit of surgery," says study author Oliver Varban, M.D., U-M assistant professor of surgery and director of the Adult Bariatric Surgery Program.

READ MORE

More Headlines

Blacks have shorter life spans after surviving heart stoppage

Breast cancer patients report heavy financial toll of treatment

Value-based insurance design: Success in getting patients to take their medicine

Long-acting reversible contraception---- Highly efficacious, safe, and underutilized

Research that leads to practice change: a conversation with Sanjay Saint

Parents often unsure whether, where to seek medical care for children's headaches

What role do dentists have to play in addressing the nation's opioid epidemic? As a major prescriber of opioids for mouth pain ---- and the largest prescriber by far for the age group that includes kids and young adults ---- their impact could be quite significant. Romesh Nalliah, a  clinical associate professor of dentistry at the University of Michigan, talks about policy and practice initiatives to improve prescribing, communication, and the integration of oral health services within the healthcare system.

READ Q&A 

The Journal of the American Dental Association also published Nalliah's letter about reimbursement reform in dentistry in its June 2018 issue.

The National Kidney Foundation of Michigan (NKFM) has elected John C. Magee, M.D., professor of surgery, as chair of its board of directors. Magee joined the board in 2012 where he served as secretary for two years, then vice chair until being elected chair at a meeting on June 20.

Magee is the Jeremiah and Claire Turcotte Professor and Head of the Section of Transplantation in the U-M Department of Surgery as well as a professor of internal medicine and pediatrics. He serves as the director of the U-M Transplant Center and as the surgical director for Pediatric Abdominal Transplantation. He performs kidney, pancreas, and liver transplants.

Helen Kales, M.D., professor of psychiatry, has been selected to take part in an update of the Lancet Commission on dementia prevention, intervention, and care in October in London. The previous report from the commission states 1 in 3 dementia cases could be prevented by targeting risk factors from childhood onward.

Read the Q&A with Dr. Kales

Michigan Medicine to co-host maternal and infant health town hall

Date: August 16, 2018

Time: 6:00 --- 7:30 p.m.

In Person Location: Henry Ford Health System, 1 Ford Place, Detroit

Register here for the in-person meeting

Webcast Location: U-M North Campus Research Complex, Building 10, 2800 Plymouth Road, Ann Arbor

Register here for the Webcast

The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) and the Maternal Infant Strategy Group (MISG) are hosting four regional town hall meetings to collect community input on the state's 2019-2022 Mother Infant Health Improvement Plan.

Representatives from multiple disciplines including physicians, nurses, social workers, and community partners caring for moms all over the state of Michigan are welcome to participate.

You're invited to attend the  2018 Ann Arbor Health Services Research Symposium, where nationally renowned speakers will give powerful TED-style talks on translating research into real world impact.

The symposium will be held at the U-M Power Center and CME credit will be available.

Women in Big Data at Michigan Symposium

Date: November 12, 2018

Time: 8:30 a.m. --- 4:30 p.m.

Location: Michigan League

Keynote Speaker: Xihong Lin, Ph.d., Henry Pickering Walcott Professor of Biostatistics, and chair, Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

WEBSITE

This day-long symposium will highlight women data science researchers at U-M, provide resources and support for women pursuing careers in data science, a poster session, lunch time round table discussions, a faculty panel, and ample time for networking.

IHPI Speakers:

• Amy Cohn, Ph.D., professor, U-M Industrial Operations and Engineering 
• Bhramar Mukherjee, Ph.D., M.S., M.Stat., U-M Public Health Biostatistics
• Jenna Wiens, Ph.D., U-M Computer Science and Engineering