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Hed-policywatch Pressing Issues in Health Care
interview
Eric Weil

Q: How does your program, which provides more attentive care to at-risk patients, actually save money?

A: Better care results in less need for expensive hospital services. There was a 20% decline in hospital admissions and a 13% drop in emergency department admissions during the program’s first three years. Essentially, for every dollar spent, the program saved at least $2.65.

“Some hospitals have resorted to using expired drugs—a risky proposition, given uncertainty about the safety and effectiveness of medicine past its ‘use by’ date.”
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Why Drugs Run Out

According to data compiled by the University of Utah Drug Information Service, these are the most common reasons for drug shortages.

Drug Distributors: On The Gray Market

Though pharmaceutical products are tightly regulated, distributors aren’t, and that has led to a netherworld of dealers ready to exploit—or create—drug shortages.

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Cheating the System

From mishandled stolen shipments to repackaged fakes to scammers diluting medications, there are multiple ways phony pharmaceuticals get in the supply chain.

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

The FDA and pharmaceutical companies have employed a number of methods to thwart counterfeiters—yet scammers seem to have no trouble keeping up.

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A Matter of Time

Doctors' hours have risen, then fallen, since the practice of residency was adopted in 1889.

Lost in the Shuffle

Looking ahead to shorter resident hours causing more frequent patient handoffs, hospitals are working to ensure vital information is communicated to the next shift.

defined

biocreep ['bī-(,)ō 'krēp] n: a possible phenomenon in which so-called noninferiority trials, which compare the efficacy of new drugs with that of existing drugs, in fact allow inferior treatments to go to market.

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second opinion

“When I opened my spring issue of Proto, I was startled to see an X-ray of a baby with open safety pins in his esophagus. As I turned the page of the article I got a second shock. There was a photo of some of the 30 objects taken from an infant named Joseph B. I knew this was my father, Joseph Burke.”