NEWSWIRE
ranging from incivility to bullying to physi- cal violence. The statement defines bullying as “repeated, unwanted harmful actions intended to humiliate, offend and cause distress,” such as hostile remarks, verbal attacks, threats, intimidation and withhold- ing support.
CMS releases first ever plan to address health equity in Medicare
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of Minority Health (CMS OMH), unveiled the first CMS plan to address health equity in Medicare. The CMS Equity Plan for Improving Quality in Medicare (CMS Equity Plan for Medicare) is an action-oriented plan that focuses on six priority areas and aims to reduce health disparities in four years.
The plan was released at a conference entitled: Medicare & Medicaid at 50: Their Past, Present, and Future Impact on Health Equity, which was held in commemoration of the 50th anniversary of Medicare and Medicaid and the 30th anniversary of the 1985 Report of the Secretary’s Task Force on Black and Minority Health, also known as the Heckler Report. The Equity Plan focuses on Medicare populations that experience disproportion- ately high burdens of disease, lower quality of care, and barriers accessing care. These include racial and ethnic minorities, sexual and gender minorities, people with disabili- ties, and those living in rural areas. The priorities and activities described in the plan were developed during a rigorous year-long process in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago, which included examining evidence, identifying opportunities, and gathering input from a broad array of stakeholders across the coun- try. Six priority areas and several high-yield activities serve as the plan’s foundation. The priorities and activities described in the plan were developed during a rigorous year-long process in collaboration with NORC at the University of Chicago, which included examining evidence, identifying opportunities, and gathering input from a broad array of stakeholders across the coun- try. Six priority areas and several high-yield activities serve as the plan’s foundation. They include: Priority 1: Expand the Collection, Report- ing, and Analysis of Standardized Data Priority 2: Evaluate Disparities Impacts and Integrate Equity Solutions Across CMS Programs Priority 3: Develop and Disseminate
Promising Approaches to Reduce Health Disparities
Priority 4: Increase the Ability of the Health Care Workforce to Meet the Needs of Vulnerable Populations Priority 5: Improve Communication and Language Access for Individuals with Lim- ited English Proficiency and Persons with Disabilities Priority 6: Increase Physical Accessibility of Health Care Facilities
The foundation for addressing each of the plan’s priorities includes the following interconnected principles that guide CMS’ efforts to achieve health equity: • Increasing understanding and awareness of disparities;
• Developing and disseminating solutions; and
• Taking sustainable action and evaluating progress.
White House is pressed to help widen access to Hepatitis C drugs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Ser- vices has issued 2014 quality and financial performance results showing that Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) continue to improve the quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries, while generating financial savings. As the number of Medicare beneficiaries served by ACOs continues to grow, these results suggest that ACOs are delivering higher quality care to more and more Medicare beneficiaries each year. The results demonstrate significant im- provements in the quality of care ACOs are offering to Medicare beneficiaries. ACOs are judged on their performance on an ar- ray of meaningful metrics that assess the care they provide — including how highly patients rated their doctor, how well clini- cians communicated, whether they screened for high blood pressure and tobacco use and cessation, and their use of Electronic Health Records. In the third performance year, Pio- neer ACOs showed improvements in 28 of 33 quality measures and experienced average improvements of 3.6 percent across all qual- ity measures. Shared Savings Program ACOs that reported quality measures in 2013 and 2014 improved on 27 of 33 quality measures. When an ACO demonstrates that it has achieved high-quality care and effectively reducing spending of health care dollars above specified thresholds, it is able to share in the savings generated for Medicare. In 2014, 20 Pioneer and 333 Shared Savings Program ACOs generated more than $411 million in savings, which includes all ACOs savings and losses. The results show that ACOs with more experience in the program tend to perform better over time. Of the 333 Shared Savings Program ACOs, 119 are in
8 October 2015 • HEALTHCARE PURCHASING NEWS •
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their first performance year in Track 1, which involves standing up the program without the financial risk associated with later tracks.
Landmark NIH study shows intensive blood pressure management may save lives More intensive management of high blood pressure, below a commonly recommended blood pressure target, significantly reduces rates of cardiovascular disease, and lowers risk of death in a group of adults 50 years and older with high blood pressure. This is according to the initial results of a landmark clinical trial sponsored by the Na- tional Institutes of Health called the Systolic Blood Pressure Intervention Trial (SPRINT). The intervention in this trial, which carefully adjusts the amount or type of blood pres- sure medication to achieve a target systolic pressure of 120 millimeters of mercury (mm Hg), reduced rates of cardiovascular events, such as heart attack and heart failure, as well as stroke, by almost a third and the risk of death by almost a quarter, as compared to the target systolic pressure of 140 mm Hg.C. The SPRINT study evaluates the benefits of maintaining a new target for systolic blood pressure, the top number in a blood pressure reading, among a group of patients 50 years and older at increased risk for heart disease or who have kidney disease. A systolic pres- sure of 120 mm Hg, maintained by this more intensive blood pressure intervention, could ultimately help save lives among adults age 50 and older who have a combination of high blood pressure and at least one additional risk factor for heart disease, the investiga- tors say. When SPRINT was designed, the well-
established clinical guidelines recommended a systolic blood pressure of less than 140 mm Hg for healthy adults and 130 mm Hg for adults with kidney disease or diabetes. Investigators designed SPRINT to determine the potential benefits of achieving systolic blood pressure of less than 120 mm Hg for hypertensive adults 50 years and older who are at risk for developing heart disease or kidney disease. HPN
Clarification: In regard to last month’s room decontamination article, “No Silver Bullets,” (September issue), HPN would like to add that TOMI Environmental Solutions Inc. owns the intel- lectual proprietary property of SteraMist Binary Ionization Technology (BIT), including its Activated Ionized Hydrogen Peroxide (AIHP), which was developed in coordination with the Defense Ad- vanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) for the decontamination of first responders’ biological chemical suits, post the anthrax attacks in 2001.”
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