JANUARY 2016 EDITION
 
New study shows immediate sharp reduction in uninsured admissions with Medicaid expansion

More than half of U.S. states have expanded their Medicaid program but it's been hard to know what impact that has had on hospitals, which for decades have absorbed the cost of caring for people who don't have insurance.

A new source of federal data has allowed an IHPI team to see that uninsured hospital stays fell 50 percent in states that expanded Medicaid --- while remaining flat in states that didn't. And that was just in the first six months after the programs started.

 
  NEWS
U-M professor shares thoughts on updated SAMHSA restrictions

Since late 2013, CMS has been removing substance use disorder claims from key Medicare and Medicaid data files which are used for a wide range of health services and health economics research. Without those claims in the Medicare and Medicaid data files, it is impossible to conduct the same kind of research on substance use disorders and related conditions such as HIV and Hepatitis C. Because the data suppression is non-random, any research using health claims --- even research having nothing to do with substance use --- will also be skewed. 

 
 
U-M Law Professor Nicholas Bagley
 
 
Saving lives after tragedy

As mass casualty incidents occur with increasing frequency, it is imperative that the responses to each of these incidents be very quickly assessed to identify the valuable lessons that can enhance preparedness for future crises.

U-M Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine Mahshid Abir, M.D., M.Sc., spoke to U.S. News & World Report about methods of increasing preparedness for when tragedy strikes.

 
 
Dr. Mahshid Abir
 
 
Rating surgeon performance: it's tricky


ProPublica, a non-profit investigative journalism organization, recently published its Surgeon Scorecard, rating the individual performance of nearly 17,000 surgeons performing one of eight elective procedures on Medicare patients nationwide. The scorecard compared surgeons' performance based on their complication rates. The purpose of the report was to provide greater transparency about surgeons' performance with the ultimate goal of reducing medical errors. 

U-M experts weigh in on the implications of the ratings and what they might mean for surgeons and patients.

 
 
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The Institute brings great minds together to address healthcare's biggest challenges. More than 460 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.

 
Good--- and bad--- news on kidney disease in the U.S.: New national report by IHPI members & partner

The annual data report from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS) reveals both positive and negative trends in kidney disease in the U.S.

 
Click here to see the report
The report is released by the USRDS coordinating center based at the University of Michigan Kidney Epidemiology and Cost Center, in partnership with Arbor Research Collaborative for Health.

"Overall trends for end-stage kidney disease are promising for those affected," says Rajiv Saran, M.D., professor of internal medicine at U-M Health System and director of the USRDS coordinating center. "Patients on dialysis are living longer and equally positive, survival rates have steadily improved among recipients of both living and deceased donor kidney transplants."

 
 
Langa named to IOM committee on decreasing risk of developing Alzheimer's-Type Dementia

 
Dr. Ken Langa
 
Ken Langa, M.D., Ph.D., the Cyrus Sturgis Professor of Medicine in the Division of General Medicine, U-M Medical School, was recently named to an Institute of Medicine committee that will examine the evidence on preventive factors and/or interventions associated with decreasing the risk of developing Alzheimer's-Type Dementia, amnestic mild cognitive impairment, and age-related cognitive impairment and make recommendations to inform public health strategies and messaging and recommendations for future research.

 
 
Adler-Milstein appointed to UK National Health Service committee

U.S. and U.K. health care systems strive to provide high quality and cost effective care --- and moving to a digital healthcare environment is a key part of the efforts for both countries. Yet the experience in both the U.S. and U.K. illustrates that doing so is complicated. U-M School of Information Assistant Professor Julia Adler-Milstein, Ph.D. was recently asked to join the National Advisory Group on Health Information Technology in England to lend her expertise in digital strategy and Health IT. The committee will issue a report later this summer on recommendations for improvements in health IT in the U.K.
 
 
Assistant Professor
Julia Adler-Milstein
 
  EVENTS
Recorded event: U-M expert presents opioid data on risks, strategies to reduce overuse 

Mark Ilgen, Ph.D., U-M associate professor of psychiatry, was part of a series of speakers who presented during a day-long summit at U-M on the emerging public health issue: Overdose injury and death related to opioids (prescription pain medications).  Ilgen's 30 min talk titled "Expanding the understanding of risks associated with opioids as well as strategies to reduce opioid overuse" is now available for public viewing. Click on the video below to watch. 


 
 
The First Collaborative Quality Initiative

In 1997, a group of five hospitals in Michigan --- led by U-M cardiologists and supported by the Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation and Blue Care Network --- launched the Blue Cross Blue Shield Cardiovascular Consortium --- Percutaneous Coronary Intervention (BMC2 --- PCI), an initiative to study variation in angioplasty. This first Collaborative Quality Initiative (CQI) paved the way for more than 20 other BCBSM initiatives, most of them led by U-M medical faculty, to collect, analyze, and share data to improve healthcare processes and outcomes across some of the most common and costly areas of healthcare in Michigan.


 
ABOUT IHPI
The Institute for Healthcare Policy and Innovation is committed to improving the quality, safety, equity, and affordability of health care 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

SUPPORT IHPI
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

kegavin@umich.edu 

734-764-2220

 

Eileen Kostanecki

IHPI Government & External Relations Director

ekostan@umich.edu

202-554-0578

 

Colleen Sherman

UMHS Corporate and Foundation Relations Associate Director

cols@umich.edu

734-615-0040