News and Media

Welcome to Quality Buzz. Quality Buzz is dedicated to bringing you all the latest news and information to help you improve the quality of your health care. We update this section weekly and hope that it will become an important resource for you.

April 28, 2009 — Not My Doctor: Poll on Overuse

This week, the Partnership is releasing our fourth video. Pharmacist Ericka Shepard of CVS/pharmacy provides valuable tips on safely managing your medications. Experts suggest that as many as half of all prescription drugs are taken incorrectly. This video will help you whether you have year-round ailments, seasonal conditions, or the occasional illness.

Patients and their families often struggle with deciding the best course of care during the final months of life. Yesterday, WBUR of Boston began a weeklong series on "End of Life" care. Listen to yesterday's WBUR story with Jim Conway, Board Chair of the Partnership, who discusses the impact of a culture that often considers more care is better care. End of life care is also the topic of "Radio Boston" this week. Jim will participate in this call-in show on Friday May 1st at 1pm on WBUR.

A poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation, National Public Radio and the Harvard School of Public Health, suggests that people tend to trust that their own doctors provide appropriate care, but are skeptical of the treatment other patients receive from their physicians. Half of those surveyed believe the American health system has a "major problem" with patients receiving unnecessary tests. However, far fewer believe that they have personally received an unnecessary test or treatment (16%). In other words, the problem is the "other guy's doctor" and not "my doctor." In this environment how do we as individual patients and physicians begin to think about the problem of "overuse" in US health care?

The impact of Personal Health Records (PHRs) was discussed in a Boston Globe editorial. The editorial touches on "e-patient" Dave of Beth Israel Deaconess who found that his on-line PHR had inaccurate information about his condition. Patient Dave's experience reminds us to check for accuracy of our online records.

Other interesting news/articles this week include:
 

• Big Challenges Await Health-Records Transition, Wall Street Journal
• Effective medical treatment: $1.1 billion to study 'comparative effectiveness' research and evaluate therapies, Chicago Tribune

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