FDA
Announces Change in Heparin Potency The
Food and Drug Administration announced last week that a change
in the U.S. Pharmacopeia (USP) monograph for heparin, effective
Oct. 1, will decrease the drug’s potency by 10 percent.
This change, which is largely in response to the 2007-2008
heparin contamination problem, will enable detection of impurities
that may be present in heparin. The monograph change will
also harmonize the USP unit dose with the WHO International
Standard unit dose. Manufacturers will not begin shipping
heparin products manufactured and tested according to the
new USP monograph until Oct. 8 or later.
Health
care providers should consider the change in potency when
making decisions about what dose to administer. Healthcare
providers should also be aware of the decrease in heparin
potency as they monitor the anticoagulant effect of the drug;
more heparin may be required to achieve and maintain the desired
level of anticoagulation in some patients. The FDA alert is
available online.
NHBLI
Awards Grant to ACC, STS for Revasc Comparative Effectiveness The
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute of the National
Institutes of Health (NIH) has awarded a grant to the ACC
and the Society of Thoracic Surgeons (STS) to study the comparative
effectiveness of the two forms of coronary revascularization:
percutaneous coronary intervention and coronary artery bypass
graft surgery. This two-year study, funded by the American
Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, will compare catheter-based
and surgery-based procedures using existing databases from
the ACC and STS, as well as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid
Services’ MEDPAR data. By linking these three databases,
the study will help physicians make better decisions and improve
healthcare for patients with coronary artery disease.
HHS
Report Details Health IT Use in Rural Community Department
of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius recently
released a report on how health information technology (IT)
affects health care in rural communities. The report examines
how the Columbia Basin Health Association (CBHA) in Othello,
Wash., uses health IT to improve health care quality and patient
safety and promote care coordination and continuity. Since
CBHA’s implementation of EHRs, the community health
center has consistently ranked above the 95th percentile nationally
in total medical and dental team productivity. The complete
report is available now at www.healthreform.gov.
QUALITY
Obama
Addresses Health Reform in Rose Garden Address President
Obama on Monday gave a Rose Garden address
on health care reform to health care practitioners, discussing
many of the items he proposed in his address to Congress last
month including coverage for prevention, malpractice, insurance
reforms and payment reform. President Obama referenced the
important role that health care practitioners can play in
reform, saying: "...doctors know what needs to be fixed
about our health care system." ACC CEO Jack Lewin, M.D.,
attended the address and released a statement.
He said: “His concern and desire to address the flawed
SGR payment formula and to work with Secretary Sebelius to
reduce defensive medicine through achievable tort reforms
is most welcome to all physicians. It is essential that the
nation move forward in 2009 with a meaningful and historic
health reform proposal.” Lewin was quoted in Modern
Healthcare and The
Hill. Lewin also appeared this week on MSNBC’s
The Ed Show discussing the public option. The clip can be
viewed online.
WSJ
Editorial: The War on Specialists The
Wall Street Journal on Tuesday featured an editorial
discussing President Obama’s “war on specialists,”
in particular in relation to the proposed Medicare Physician
Fee Schedule and the Senate Finance Committee’s health
care reform bill. According to the Journal:
From
Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus's health-care bill to
changes the Administration is pushing in Medicare, Democrats
are systematically attacking specific medical fields like
cardiology and oncology. With almost no scrutiny, they're
trying to engineer a "cheaper" system so that
government can afford to buy health care for all—even
if the price is fewer and less innovative ways of extending
and improving lives.
The Journal
continues: “It is perfectly insane to support one
type of doctor by punishing others on a flawed theory about
cost-control.” To read the article in full, click
here.
