http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. UC Irvine Health urologists and health policy experts report in a new study that two written assessments that identify existing comorbidities – the patient-reported Total Illness Burden Index for Prostate Cancer (TIBI-Cap) and the physician-reported Charlson Comorbidity Index – can successfully target prostate patients who would not benefit from biopsy to discover possible cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-comorbidities-factor-prostate-biopsy-choice.html Cancer Wed, 15 May 2013 09:18:45 EST news287828319 A highly underutilized anesthesia technique called neuraxial anesthesia, also known as spinal or epidural anesthesia, improves outcomes in patients undergoing hip or knee replacement, according to a new study by researchers at Hospital for Special Surgery. The study, which appears in the May issue of the journal Anesthesiology, found that neuraxial anesthesia, a type of regional anesthesia, reduced morbidity, mortality, length of hospital stay and costs when compared with general anesthesia. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-regional-anesthesia-technique-significantly-outcomes.html Surgery Wed, 01 May 2013 00:00:07 EST news286563849 William M. Tierney, M.D. focuses on the potential of electronic medical systems and computer-based decision support to control healthcare costs in "Controlling costs with computer-based decision support: a hammer, a scalpel or an illusion?" published online in JAMA Internal Medicine on April 15. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-computer-based-decision-health.html Health Tue, 16 Apr 2013 15:47:31 EST news285346043 Information collected from individual patients at doctor's office and hospital visits could be used to improve health care and reduce costs on a national scale, according to a discussion paper released by the Institute of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-individual-health.html Health Mon, 15 Apr 2013 16:05:09 EST news285260703 The decision to perform an invasive procedure to open clogged arteries in the heart instead of first trying medication and lifestyle changes may not reduce a patient's risk of death or of a major cardiac event. Unnecessary procedures to treat chronic, stable heart disease contribute to rising health care costs. A targeted approach to avoiding this kind of overutilization by instead relying on evidence-based decision-making is presented in Population Health Management, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers. The article is available free on the Population Health Management website at http://www.liebertpub.com/bari. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-medical-therapy-safer-choice-angioplasty.html Cardiology Tue, 09 Apr 2013 12:35:29 EST news284729717 Even though Medicare spends over $1 billion per year on breast cancer screenings such as a mammography, there is no evidence that higher spending benefits older women, researchers at Yale School of Medicine found in a study published Online First by JAMA Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-costly-breast-cancer-screenings-dont.html Cancer Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:00:13 EST news276772358 Prostate cancer patients receiving the costly treatment known as proton radiotherapy experienced minimal relief from side effects such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction, compared to patients undergoing a standard radiation treatment called intensity modulated radiotherapy (IMRT), Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-hype-costly-prostate-cancer-treatment.html Cancer Thu, 13 Dec 2012 16:30:08 EST news274638592 Heart failure is a relatively common complication in older women with breast cancer, but the risk is even higher in those patients treated with adjuvant trastuzumab (Herceptin), Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the current issue of the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-heart-failure-older-breast-cancer.html Cardiology Wed, 14 Nov 2012 15:30:01 EST news272129356 Patient-reported outcomes should be a standard part of evaluating the comparative effectiveness of cancer treatments, according to recommendations put forward by a multi-institution research group. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-patient-reported-outcomes-essential-effectiveness.html Cancer Tue, 16 Oct 2012 13:41:44 EST news269613691 Comparative effectiveness research conducted over the past decade has had a limited impact on the way medical care is delivered, but many opportunities exist to help doctors and others in the medical system translate such research into better patient care, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-strategies-impact-effectiveness.html Health Tue, 09 Oct 2012 16:33:53 EST news269019224 Inpatient hospital treatment accounts for the largest proportion of health care spending in the U.S., with the use of diagnostic imaging services such as MRIs, frequently implicated as the probable cause.  A new analysis finds that the biggest expense may not be imaging technology but from supplies including medical devices, such as stents and artificial joints. "One of the take-away messages for hospitals is that they should examine their own data in closer detail to explore the costs that are rapidly rising and have a better understanding for the underlying reasons," said lead author Jared Lane Maeda, Ph.D., of Truven Health Analytics in Washington, D.C. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-inpatient-linked-medical-devices.html Health Wed, 29 Aug 2012 09:00:01 EST news265447154 (HealthDay) -- Use of diagnostic codes, such as International Classification of Diseases -- Ninth Revision (ICD-9) codes, may result in misclassification of rare, adverse drug reactions (ADRs), including the risk of rhabdomyolysis from high-dose simvastatin, according to a research letter published in the April 18 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-icd-codes-underestimate-statin-linked-rhabdomyolysis.html Medications Wed, 18 Apr 2012 01:20:01 EST news253928794 In an opinion article published in this week's theme edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association focusing on comparative effectiveness research, a team of Johns Hopkins University bioethicists argues forcefully for streamlining federal restrictions on at least some low-risk clinical comparative effectiveness research, instead of easing them – as is now proposed – solely for low-risk social and behavior research involving surveys, interviews and focus groups. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-bioethicists-urge-regulatory-burden-low-risk.html Medical research Tue, 17 Apr 2012 16:00:08 EST news253884280 More involvement by patients, clinicians and others in the health care community in developing comparative clinical effectiveness research studies will make such studies far more useful in clinical decision-making, according to the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute, in an article published in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-greater-patient-clinician-involvement-clinical.html Health Tue, 17 Apr 2012 11:10:01 EST news253878701 Analysis of a drug regimen approved by the F.D.A. in 2006 for the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer (bevacizumab added to the standard chemotherapy regimen carboplatin and paclitaxel) finds Medicare insured patients age 65 years and older who received this regimen did not have improved survival compared to patients who received the standard treatment of carboplatin and paclitaxel alone, according to a study in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-drug-regimen-treatment-non-small-cell.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:51:03 EST news253878657 In an analysis of three different types of radiation therapy used to treat localized prostate cancer, compared with conformal radiation therapy, intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) was associated with fewer diagnoses of gastrointestinal adverse effects, hip fractures, and receipt of additional cancer treatments but more erectile dysfunction, while proton therapy was associated with more gastrointestinal adverse effects than IMRT, according to a study in the April 18 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on comparative effectiveness research. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-adverse-effects-therapies-prostate-cancer.html Cancer Tue, 17 Apr 2012 10:48:19 EST news253878493 Starting in 2012, the government will charge a new fee to your health insurance plan for research to find out which drugs, medical procedures, tests and treatments work best. But what will Americans do with the answers? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-fee-medical-effectiveness.html Health Wed, 28 Dec 2011 03:42:12 EST news244266124