APRIL 2017 EDITION
 
New National Poll on Healthy Aging

The Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation, with sponsorship from AARP and Michigan Medicine, has launched the new National Poll on Healthy Aging (NPHA). The poll was launched to address important issues we face as we age. We'll be tapping into the perspectives of adults, older adults, and caregivers from throughout the United States to uncover their thoughts, ideas, and values on a range of topics to help inform clinicians, researchers, policymakers, and the public. The poll is directed by Preeti Malani, M.D., M.S.J., M.S., professor of internal medicine at U-M Medical School. 


 
  NEWS
Higher rate of serious problems seen in adults who take short-term steroids

A new U-M study suggests doctors might want to pay a bit more attention to the potential side effects of short-term steroids. People taking the pills were more likely to break a bone, have a potentially dangerous blood clot or suffer a life-threatening bout of sepsis in the months after their treatment, compared with similar adults who didn't use corticosteroids.


Lead author of the paper published in BMJAkbar Waljee, M.D., M.Sc., assistant professor of internal medicine said, "Although physicians focus on the long-term consequences of steroids, they don't tend to think about potential risks from short-term use."

 
 
How oncology providers can help oral chemotherapy patients manage their adherence

For anyone taking oral anti-cancer medications, sticking with a prescribed treatment regimen is critical to ensure the drugs work as well as possible to keep the illness in check.

Missed or irregularly timed doses, or stopping or restarting the medications, can seriously compromise the effectiveness of oral chemotherapy agents, also called oral oncolytics. These drugs ---- taken at home in pill or liquid form instead of as intravenous infusions at infusion clinics or centers ---- are often long-term therapies that work by continually targeting the genetic irregularities that cause cancer cells to grow.


According to U-M researchers Karen Farris, Ph.D., M.P.A., professor of pharmacy, and Jennifer Griggs, M.D., M.P.H., professor of internal medicine, up to 30 percent of people taking these oral cancer treatments had less-than-optimal adherence to their treatment regimens.

 
 
Opioid update: Surgery's role in long-term use, impact of Rx drug monitoring programs, new state funding

Two new research papers by IHPI members provide important information about how even a minor operation can lead to long-term opioid use, and how state prescription databases can help reduce problematic opioid prescribing. In addition, our opioid-focused Michigan-OPEN initiative will share in a new federal grant given to the state of Michigan. 



The surgery study, published in JAMA Surgery by a team led by Chad Brummett, M.D., associate professor of internal medicine, shows that 6 percent of non-opioid users became long-term users of the drugs - and that those who had been smokers, or diagnosed with alcohol, drug, depression, anxiety or chronic pain conditions before their operations had a higher rate of persistent prescriptions. Read more
 
The prescription database study finds fewer troubling opioid-related prescribing patterns for Medicare participants in states that require doctors to check a statewide prescription database before writing an opioid prescription. No such effect was seen in states that have such databases but don't require their use. Read the paper by Thomas Buchmueller, Ph.D., professor of business, et al on the National Bureau of Economic Research site here.
 
Learn more about the new $16.37 million in funding for initiatives to reduce opioid use and abuse in Michigan - including work by the Michigan-OPEN initiative based at IHPI - here.
 
 
Voluntary value-based health programs dramatically reduce hospital readmissions


Participation in one or more voluntary value-based healthcare programs had a greater impact on keeping patients from returning to the hospital within 30 days for three common diagnoses than the government's mandatory program that penalizes acute care facilities for high readmission rates, U-M researchers Andrew Ryan, Ph.D., M.A. , associate professor of public health, Julia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D., associate professor of information, and John Hollingsworth, M.D., associate professor of urology, found.

 
 
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MORE IHPI NEWS
 
Looking for an expert? Start your search on our Experts page. Use category filters, or search by name or keyword.

The Institute brings great minds together to address healthcare's biggest challenges. More than 500 investigators come to IHPI from U-M's top-ranked schools of medicine, nursing, public health, engineering, social work, law, business, and public policy, among others, as well as members of affiliated local research organizations.
 
Jagsi appointed director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM)

Reshma Jagsi, M.D., D.Phil. U-M professor of radiation oncology, is the new director of the Center for Bioethics and Social Sciences in Medicine (CBSSM), an IHPI member center based in the Medical School. The Center aspires to be the premier intellectual gathering place of clinicians, social scientists, bioethicists, and all others interested in improving individual and societal health through application of social science and bioethics methods to health research, education, and public outreach. The center also serves as the home to the Program in Clinical Ethics.

Jagsi
 
Bill introduced to expand V-BID Medicare Advantage model test to all 50 states

A new bill calling for the expansion of the MA V-BID demonstration to all 50 states was introduced by Representative Diane Black (R-TN) and cosponsored by Earl Blumenauer (D-OR), Cathy McMorris Rodgers (R-WA), and Debbie Dingell (D-MI). The "Value-Based Insurance Design for Better Care Act of 2017" seeks to amend title XVII of the Social Security Act to provide for national testing of the Medicare Advantage V-BID model.

Conceptualized by University of Michigan faculty in 2005, Value-Based Insurance Design (V-BID) is built on the principle of lowering or removing financial barriers to essential, high-value clinical services.

 
 
  EVENTS
See all upcoming events on our Events page
 
Recap: From AIDS to Zika event featured top speakers on contagious crises

Major figures in the never-ending fight against dangerous infections gathered at U-M on April 7 for an afternoon-long exploration of how microbes spread regionally, nationally and
globally ---- and what we can do to prevent, slow or stop them.

From left to right: Doctors Sanjay Gupta, Paul Farmer, Eden Wells, Howard Markel,
Martin Cetron, Matthew Boulton, and Abdul El-Sayed

 
 
RSVP REQUIRED
 
U-M Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center

 
In September 1989, the National Institute on Aging established the nation's first Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center at the University of Michigan Geriatrics Center. U-M remains one of only 10 NIA-designated Pepper Centers in the country. The center develops initiatives in geriatrics research and training to advance the state of knowledge regarding the medical problems of the older adult. It's also home to a world-class faculty whose research interests range from the social and economic to the molecular and biological changes that occur in an aging population.

Check out more historic milestones in U-M health professional education, health services research, and health policy  through IHPI's interactive timeline.
 
ABOUT IHPI
The Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation is committed to improving the quality, safety, equity, and affordability of healthcare services.

To carry out our ambitious mission, our efforts are focused in four areas:
  • Evaluating the impact of healthcare reforms
  • Improving the health of communities
  • Promoting greater value in healthcare
  • Innovating in IT and healthcare delivery

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If you are interested in supporting health services and health policy research at the University of Michigan, click here

IHPI Informs is published monthly by the University of Michigan Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation.
 
CONTACT US
U-M Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation
North Campus Research Complex (NCRC)
2800 Plymouth Road, Building 16
Ann Arbor, MI 48109

Christina Camilli-Whisenhunt
IHPI Communications Manager
camillic@umich.edu
734-764-9782

Kara Gavin
IHPI Research & Policy Media Relations Manager
734-764-2220
 
Eileen Kostanecki
IHPI Government & External Relations Director
202-554-0578

Patrick Cliff
IHPI Associate Director of Development
pcliff@umich.edu
734-998-7705
 
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