Latest California Healthline Stories
Customer Experience Ignored in Health Care?
Health professionals gathered in San Diego this week for the annual Health Unbound Conference to discuss the latest array of promising devices for making patients’ lives better — self-monitoring devices, home telehealth, social media and other e-health tools and advances.
But here’s the thing, said one speaker at the conference: There are so many useful devices and applications being developed to help patients achieve better health and longer lives, but getting those patients to use that technology can be a huge challenge.
“In general, health is a very intangible outcome,” Elizabeth Boehm of Forrester Research said, adding, “What does it mean to be slightly healthier? You’re talking about adding years to the end of my life, but the stuff that’s unhealthy has a shorter-term payoff. It usually tastes good, feels good, supplies immediate pleasure. It’s hard to get people to engage and use those long-term tools that make their health better.”
New Study Linking End-of-Life Directives With Hospitalization Has Implications for California
Kenneth Brummel-Smith of Florida State University College of Medicine, Judy Citko of the Coalition for Compassionate Care of California and Jeffrey Yee of Woodland Healthcare spoke with California Healthline about the study.
The Slippery Territory of Autism
A treatment for autism called applied behavioral analysis is basically helping those with autism develop new behavior with a system of rewards and consequences.
It’s generally known as one of the most successful forms of therapy available for autistic children. So if it has some success, why isn’t it always covered by private insurance?
That was the central question at a hearing of the Senate Select Committee on Autism and Related Disorders.
New Payment Method May Help Curb Costs, Improve Care
Payment bundling, an important part of national health care reform, is likely to be an integral part of California’s effort to revamp its health care system. The new tool has the potential to deliver lower costs, more efficient reimbursement and better patient outcomes.
Prevention, Wellness Provisions of Health Care Reform Law Could Have Big Long-Term Impact
John Seffrin of the American Cancer Society, Steve Wojcik of the National Business Group on Health and Daniel Zingale of the California Endowment spoke with California Healthline about a shift in emphasis in the health reform law.
Health Care Advocates Warn of ‘Dark Times’ for Latinos
Economic woes in California and across the nation make for a dim outlook for health care efforts for at least the next year, according to health care advocates in California. Recent research indicates that Latinos are at heightened risk of diabetes and face obstacles to care.
Effort Urges Seniors With Chronic Conditions To Change Habits
Sparked by a grant from the Council on Aging, a three-year Healthier Living initiative hopes to help older Californians with chronic conditions take control of their health through behavior changes.
California Residency Programs Incorporate Chronic Disease Care into Physician Training
Experts on physician training and the management of chronic illness spoke with California Healthline about efforts to encourage California’s next generation of doctors to use an innovative chronic care model.
Telemedicine Efforts Target Uninsured, Rural Hispanics
Use of telemedicine is becoming a more common way to treat chronic diseases among specific underserved populations, such as Hispanics. Two programs in the state have had early success using the technology to stave off development of more serious and costly conditions among people with diabetes.
Cost Takes Center Stage in Health Care Reform Efforts
CalPERS isn’t taking a position in California’s health care reform debate, but the giant pension fund is backing efforts to control health care cost increases. Other groups agree that costs are a problem but instead are pushing for a complete overhaul of the way Californians get health care.