Health IT privacy meeting

The first meeting of the HITE-CT privacy committee will be January 11th from 12:30 to 2pm at the LOB. This committee was created in response to legislative proposals to ensure consumers agree to protect their private health information on CT’s new electronic health information exchange. HITE-CT is the quasi-public entity federally funded to create an…

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Overtreatment webinar slides and video posted

Slides and video from Rosemary Gibson’s webinar on What States Can Do About Health Care Overuse are posted. Rosemary Gibson has authored several books on the overuse of medical care, how it is harming our health, fueling health costs, and what we can do about it. The next webinar is The Promise of Shared Decision-Making…

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CER Webinars

Join us for two upcoming webinars on similar themes. The first is next Wednesday, December 28th at 10am with Rosemary Gibson, author of The Treatment Trap. Rosemary will describe the Overuse of Medical Care and what can be Done to Prevent It. To register, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/828589337. The second is the Promise of Shared Decision-Making…

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Electronic health record breaches up 32% this year over last

As more patient records move to electronic formats, the number of breaches, or losses, of that information is also up sharply rising 32% this year over last, according to the NY Times. Lost or stolen laptops and phones make up almost half the breaches. Nationally, 57% of office-based physicians use electronic health records. Breaches cost…

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CT Insurance Exchange News

New on the CT Exchange Watch Blog – www.ctexchangewatch.org – Mercer finishes report to exchange board, more press and more calls for consumer voices in the exchange.

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CEPAC meeting – comparing treatment resistant depression treatments

Friday’s CEPAC meeting in Providence was fascinating. We spent the day comparing the clinical and cost effectiveness of some common and some new treatments for people with treatment resistant depression (TRD). Between 13 and 14 million Americans experience clinical depression each year, but only about half seek treatment and only 20% of those get adequate…

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Upcoming webinars on overtreatment and shared decisionmaking

Join us for two upcoming webinars on similar themes. The first will be December 28th at 10am with Rosemary Gibson, author of The Treatment Trap. Rosemary will describe the Overuse of Medical Care and what can be Done to Prevent It. To register, go to https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/828589337. The second is the Promise of Shared Decision-Making –…

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New blog – CT Health Insurance Exchange Watch

A new blog, CT Health Insurance Exchange Watch, is tracking development of CT’s Health Insurance Exchange. The blog is jointly sponsored by Small Business for a Healthy CT and the CT Health Policy Project. The latest entry includes an analysis noting that the percent of small businesses in MA offering health benefits to workers rose…

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45% of CT individual health plans last year would not have triggered consumer rebates under new federal rules

A Hartford Courant analysis of 2010 individual health plans sold in CT finds that 45% did not spend at least 80% of premiums on members’ medical expenses. A rule requiring plans to meet that standard, termed medical loss ratio, did not take effect until this year. Plans that don’t reach that standard, overspending on administration…

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New slides posted to cthealthbook.org

Updated slides from a health policy undergraduate class are available online at cthealthbook.org. Class topics include CT’s health care system, health care finance, international comparisons, Medicare, Medicaid, food policy and health, drugs, long term care, and national health reform, among others.

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