California Receives "D" grades

According to the 2005 California Report Card (Children Now), California received "D" grades for childhood obesity, family economic security and education. The state's highest grade, a B-plus, was in infant health.
The report card is available online at http://publications.childrennow.org/assets/pdf/policy/rc05/ca-rc-2005.pdf.

UCLA Reopens Undergraduate Nursing Program

University of California-Los Angeles' officials recently announced plans to reopen the university's bachelor's degree program for nursing next fall after closing it in 1995 and expand the master's degree program. The UC Board of Regents has allocated $5.2 million to fund both programs for nursing at UCLA. Fifty students are expected to be admitted to the program in the first year, and 50 students likely will enroll in a new entry-level master's program. UCLA officials hope to double the university's current capacity of 300 nursing students within five years and plan to hire 22 more faculty members. The new entry-level master's program is for students with no nursing experience, as well as, those who are already licensed nurses. In addition, UC-Irvine is working to gain approval for a nursing program that would include an undergraduate nursing degree.

Majority of California Students Fail Fitness Test

According to the results from the state's 2005 Physical Fitness Test, about one in four California students from elementary school through high school is considered physically fit. The test, administered to more than 1.3 million students in fifth, seventh and ninth grades, assesses six major fitness areas, including aerobic capacity, percentage of body fat, abdominal strength and endurance, trunk strength and flexibility, upper body strength and endurance and overall flexibility. Information about the test is at http://www.cde.ca.gov/ta/tg/pf/

UC-Riverside Plans To Submit Proposal for Medical School

University of California-Riverside Chancellor France Cordova announced that the university would seek approval to open a medical school. Cordova said she will appoint a panel of former deans from medical schools nationwide to advise UCR officials on the medical school proposal. Cordova said she will submit a formal proposal to UC President Robert Dynes in March for review by the UC Board of Regents and added that she hopes to receive a decision by July.

U.S. Syphilis Rate Increases for Fourth Consecutive Year

According to an annual report on sexually transmitted diseases released by CDC, the national rate of syphilis increased for the fourth consecutive year in 2004, while the gonorrhea rate hit a record low. The report also shows an increase in the rate of chlamydia, which could be attributed to improved screening rather than a rise in infections. The STD Surveillance 2004 report can be found online at http://www.cdc.gov/std/stats/toc2004.htm

UCIMC Liver Transplant Program Loses Federal Funding

The University of California, Irvine Medical Center closed its liver transplant program after losing federal certification on Thursday, November 10, 2005 according to an article in the Los Angeles Times. Check COAST for availability of article.

Citation: Charles Ornstein and Alan Zarembo. Los Angeles Times. Nov 10, 2005. p. A.1 "Organs Refused While Patients Die; UC Irvine hospital has turned down dozens of livers that were then accepted elsewhere. Federal report also details other problems."

Undocumented Immigrants Account for One-Third of Rise in the Uninsured

Undocumented immigrants accounted for about one-third of the 8.7 million increase in the number of uninsured U.S. adults between 1980 and 2000. For the study, RAND researchers analyzed data from about 2,400 Los Angeles County residents in 2000 and 2001 and applied the results nationwide. Check COAST for availability of article.

Citation: Goldman et al. "Legal Status And Health Insurance Among Immigrants" Health Affairs.2005; 24: 1640-1653. (This is the November/December issue)

34% of Health Care Spending Used for Administrative Costs

According to a new study in Health Affairs, 34% of health care spending is used for administrative costs. In the study, researchers led by James Kahn (Institute of Health Policy Studies at the University of California-San Francisco) analyzed data collected from 73 insurers between 1996 and 2001, survey responses from physicians and hospital administrative costs reported to the state. The study is available online at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/24/6/1629

Citation: Kahn, J.G., et al. "The Cost Of Health Insurance Administration In California: Estimates For Insurers, Physicians, And Hospital" Health Affairs, Vol 24, Issue 6, 1629-1639.

Health Care Costs, Error Rates Higher in U.S. Than in Other Countries

According to a Commonwealth Fund survey, out-of-pocket health care costs and medical error rates are higher for patients in the U.S. than in five other Western nations (Australia, Canada, Britain, New Zealand and Germany). For the report, researchers surveyed 6,957 adults between March and June 2005 who recently had been hospitalized, had surgery or reported health problems. The study, "Taking The Pulse Of Health Care Systems: Experiences Of Patients With Health Problems In Six Countries," was published in the online (November 3, 2005) version of Health Affairs at http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/full/hlthaff.w5.509/DC1

U.S. Needs Integrated Mental Health Treatment System

An Institute of Medicine (IOM) report released Tuesday (November 1, 2005), says the U.S. needs a "comprehensive strategy" to improve the quality of health care services for people with mental illnesses and drug and alcohol problems. The report outlines a number of steps federal agencies can take to improve health services for people with mental health and substance-abuse problems.

An abstract of the report is available online at http://www.iom.edu/report.asp?id=30836

AHA Concerns Over JCAHO Data Mining

The American Hospital Association (AHA) sent an advisory brief to its members about its concerns over the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations (JCAHO) selling data to third parties that was collected for accreditation purposes. It raises HIPAA compliance issues and the AHA plans to seek guidance from HHS on privacy issues. AHA also said JCAHO's new data-mining program is a duplication of the Hospital Quality Alliance's program and would cause a conflict of interest.

Feasibility of Management of High-Grade Cervical Lesions in a Single Visit

A randomized controlled trial administered Pap smears to 3,521 low-income women in Orange County, Calif. One group of women stayed at the clinic to receive their results, and if their test showed high-grade precancerous cervical lesions, the women underwent a procedure that day to remove a layer of their cervix. Women in the other group who had abnormal test results were referred for follow-up care at a later time.

Citation: Brewster, W. et al. Feasibility of Management of High-Grade Cervical Lesions in a Single Visit: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 294 (217): 2182-2187, [Nov. 2]2005. Check COAST for online availability.

Bill Addressing Racial Disparities in Health Care Introduced

Sens. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Joe Lieberman (D-Conn.) last week introduced a bill (S 1929) http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/z?c109:S.1929: called FairCare, which is intended to address deficiencies in health care for racial and ethnic minorities. The bill comes in response to a study published Oct. 25 that found heart attack death rates are higher in hospitals that treat mostly black patients.