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Spending Trends: Health Care for Children

January 6, 2017 By

Spending Trends 1996 – 2013: Health Care for Children

Spending on health care for children has risen in the past 20 years and a new article sheds light on where the money goes.

Frank Magliochetti

Personal health care spending for children skyrocketed 56 percent between 1996 and 2013, according to a new study published online by JAMA Pediatrics. Increased spending in health care for children reflects the increased spending for patients of all ages, according to the statistics presented by frankmaglochetti_healthcare-report-trendsthe Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The United States spent about $3.2 trillion for health care in 2015, or $9,990 per person, up 5.8 percent from the year before.

Spending Trends for Children’s Personal Health Care in the U.S., 1996 – 2013

While health care spending on children continues to rise, there is very little data on differences in spending for specific conditions, age groups, gender, and type of care. There is also a paucity of information on how spending patterns have changed over the years. To shed light on these spending patterns, Joseph L. Dieleman, Ph.D., of the University of Washington, Seattle, and his team of researchers used 183 sources of data and 2.9 billion patient records gathered from the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation Disease Expenditure 2013 project database. They performed annual estimates for each year from 1996 through 2013 and used inflation-adjusted 2015 dollars to report estimates.

They found that spending for pediatric health care increased from $149.6 billion in 1996 to $233.5 billion in 2013. Spending per child rose from $1,915 in 1996 to $2,777 in 2013.

frankmagliochetti_report-trends-childrenhealthcareMost of the money went for well-newborn care in inpatient settings, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and well-dental care. Payers spent $27.9 billion for inpatient well-newborn care, which was the largest condition leading to health care spending.

ADHD and well-dental care services were the second and third largest conditions leading to health care spending in children, with $20.6 billion for ADHD care and $18.2 billion for well-dental care. At $9 billion, asthma care garnered the fourth highest level of spending.

The researchers found that, at $11,741, the greatest spending per child was for infants younger than 1 year in 2013. Spending per child increased over time, rising from $1915 in 1996 to $2777 in 2013. Ambulatory care among all types of care and inpatient well-newborn care, ADHD, and asthma showed the greatest growth.

Just over 30 percent of total children’s health care went for inpatient care, 38.6 percent went towards ambulatory care, and 7.8 percent was spent on retail pharmaceuticals in 2013. More was spent on males than on females.childrenhealthcarecosts-frank-magliochetti

The findings provide information about spending trends for child health care and serve as a guide for future spending. Payers can expect larger health care spending growth rates for inpatient well-newborn care and ADHD, for example, while health care professionals can gear up to provide an increased amount of care for these conditions.

“The next step should be analyzing the factors driving increased health care spending and determining whether changes in particular subcategories of spending have been associated with improvements in processes or outcomes. It is crucial to understand whether spending increases have been appropriate or misguided and how we might target spending increases and reductions now and in the future,” the authors conclude in a press release.

Source

http://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2593700

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/NationalHealthExpendData/downloads/highlights.pdf

http://media.jamanetwork.com/news-item/how-much-money-is-spent-on-kids-health-care-where-does-it-go/

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry. Frank currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Trends 2017: Human Metapneumovirus (hMPV)

January 2, 2017 By

Human Metapneumovirus Trends

Frank Magliochetti Report

Human  is a respiratory virus that can cause lower and upper respiratory tract infections, including bronchitis and pneumonia, and may even trigger asthma. Acute respiratory tract infections are the most common reason for doctor office visits, according to the American College of Physicians. Illness associated with hMPV can be severe; the virus is associated with an associated 20,000 hospitalizations of children aged 5 and younger in the United States each year. Elderly and immunocompromised individuals are at higher risk of the disease.

History of hMPV

Until just a few short years ago, the hMPV virus was different from other common respiratory viruses as PCR-based methods using virus genome-specific primers and immunological assays using virus-specific antibodies failed to identify the pathogen. It was only after the application of a molecular biology tool, known as randomly primed PCR, could researchers identify portions of the virus’s genomic sequence.frank-magliochetti-report_hmpv_metapneumovirus_

In 2001, a team of scientists headed by B.G. van den Hoogen identified hMPV in children with respiratory tract infection by using randomly primed PCR to obtain a genomic sequence of the pathogen. Based on the sequence data currently available, the human metapneumovirus seems to be a close relation of another member of the Metapneumovirus genus, the avian pneumovirus.

Since its discovery just over 16 years ago, laboratory testing has confirmed the virus in patients around the globe. Today, scientists recognize human metapneumovirus as an emerging pathogen that may have been causing respiratory tract infections for at least 60 years.

Testing and Treatment of hMPV

american_lung_association_frankmagliochettireportTesting is not yet widely available, according to the American Lung Association, but the most common method is by swabbing and testing secretions from the nose or throat. Bronchoscopy may be used to collect specimens in hospitalized patients.

There is no direct treatment for hMPV infection so treatment focuses on alleviating symptoms of fever, runny nose, cough and sore throat. The symptoms of human metapneumovirus typically last for 2 to 5 days. Management focuses on the use of over-the-counter fever and pain remedies along with decongestants.

hMPV Trends in the United States and By Region

hMPV infections typically develop during flu season in winter and early spring, according to a report published in April 2016, and typically after the onset of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV).

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) collects weekly laboratory PCR and antigen testing result data and cdc-frankmagliochettireporttracks trends of hMPV by region. In nationwide testing, positive results by PCR testing for the year 2016 peaked at 9 percent in the middle of February while the number of positive antigen tests peaked at 9.5 percent in March.

hMPV peaks later in the Northeast, with positive PCR test results peaking at the end of February and March and a spike in positive antigen results of 10.4 percent at the end of April 2016.

The Midwest had the highest rates of positive test results in 2015, with about 13 percent of hMPV tests returning positive results. The southern section of the United States sees its peak hMPV tests in March with a 10 percent positive antigen testing rate and 8 percent positive PCR rate. The West had high hMPV positive test rates throughout February, reaching their 2016 PCR positive test peak of 11.3 percent in the last week of February. Antigen detection tests yielded unsteady results in that region.

The CDC and other agencies will likely collect more information about hMPV trends and treatments as diagnostic tools become more available.

Source

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1539100/

https://www.acponline.org/acp-newsroom/acp-and-cdc-issue-advice-for-prescribing-antibiotics-for-acute-respiratory-tract-infections-in

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/861392

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11385510

http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/human-metapneumovirus-hmpv/diagnosing-hmpv.html?referrer=http://www.lung.org/lung-health-and-diseases/lung-disease-lookup/human-metapneumovirus-hmpv/learn-about-hmpv.html?referrer=https://www

http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/early/2016/03/31/peds.2015-2927

https://www.cdc.gov/surveillance/nrevss/hmpv/index.html

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry  – .  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Filed Under: Featured, Frank Magliochetti Report, Healthcare Industry, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Innovations, News Tagged With: , , ,

Teen Use of E – Cigarettes

December 27, 2016 By

Teen Use of E-Cigarettes on the Rise – Good or Bad News?

Teen use of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) has more than tripled since 2011, according to a frankmagliochetti-report-ecigs-teens_freerecent report by the U.S. Surgeon General, with 40 percent of high school students saying they had used the product at least once in their lives. In that report, 16 percent of students say they had used these products within the past 30 days.  E-cigarettes are a type of electronic nicotine delivery system that heats liquid containing nicotine, flavoring, and other ingredients into an aerosol. In a process known as “vaping,” users inhale the aerosol.

Regulation of Electronic Cigarettes

In 2016, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) finalized their rule regulating all tobacco products, including e-cigarettes. The FDA prohibits the sale of electronic cigarettes and other tobacco products to individuals under the age of 18 years.

Some individual states also impose additional regulations on tobacco products, including electronic cigarettes, specifying who can smoke e-cigarettes and where the products may be used. California requires those purchasing e-cigarettes to be 21 years or over, for example, and it does not allow consumers to use electronic cigarettes in cars with minors present.

The 2016 FDA rule included other provisions to reduce access to e-cigarettes by teens by prohibiting the distribution of free samples and the use of vending machines, but the new regulations allowed flavored frankmagliochetti_teens-e-cigaretteselectronic cigarettes to remain on the market. Some anti-smoking groups were disappointed in this lack of regulation, in that flavors like gummy bear and bubble gum may entice younger people to start smoking tobacco. A study published in a December 2016 issue of Pediatrics supports this concern, finding that the use of flavored e-cigarettes among youth increases their risk of smoking tobacco.

Proponents of electronic cigarettes can argue that tobacco smoking has actually declined among youth in the U.S., although there is not clear indication that e-cigarettes are responsible for the drop in teen smoking.

Dangers of Cigarettes, Electronic or Otherwise

Health officials are particularly worried about the use of electronics cigarettes and traditional tobacco products because of the negative effects nicotine has on the developing brain. Research shows that electronic cigarettes deliver only modest concentrations of nicotine to the inexperienced user but consumers can increase nicotine concentrations to levels similar to traditional tobacco cigarettes.

E-cigarettes also contain substances not found in tobacco products, such as heavy metals, volatile organic compounds, and ultrafine particles that consumers could inhale into their lungs. Some e-cigarette flavorings e-cig-teens-vaping-frank-maglichetti-reportcontain diacetyl, a chemical linked to serious lung disease. Still, the dangers from using electronic cigarettes may not be as lethal as the deadly effects of tobacco smoke, making e-cigarettes the safer choice for teenagers who insist on the habit.

“Kids are a kind of ‘third rail’ issue,” said Amy Fairchild, PhD, MPH, the associate dean of academic affairs at the Texas A&M School of Public Health in a press release. “On the one hand, they require extra protections. On the other, though, we also have to place their risks of harm into perspective. The consequences of combustible tobacco use are well known and serious, while e-cigarettes – while not risk free – represent a far lesser harm.”

Source:

https://e-cigarettes.surgeongeneral.gov/default.htm

https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2016/05/10/2016-10685/deeming-tobacco-products-to-be-subject-to-the-federal-food-drug-and-cosmetic-act-as-amended-by-the

http://publichealthlawcenter.org/sites/default/files/E-Cigarette-Legal-Landscape-50-State-Review-November-2016.pdf

https://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/pediatrics/early/2016/11/03/peds.2016-2513.full.pdf

https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/youth_data/tobacco_use/

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3543069/

http://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/23/suppl_2/ii30.full

Teens’ use of e-cigarettes rising, according to Surgeon General report

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry  – .  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Rising Drug Costs: Trending 2017

December 19, 2016 By

2017 Trends: Rising Drug Costs

The cost of prescription drugs has been rising rapidly since 2010, and will likely continue to rise in 2017.

Frank Magliochetti

The largest drug maker in the United States, Pfizer Inc., raised prices on 133 of its U.S. brand name products in 2015. More than three-quarters of the increases were 10 percent or more. Daraprim, the antiparasitic commonly used to treat toxoplasmosis, went from $13.50 to $750 per pill overnight in September of 2015. The price of Epipens skyrocketed 500 percent, rising from $97 in 2007 to $600 in 2016 for a two-pack set of the emergency treatment for anaphylaxis.

The total net spending on prescription drugs has grown to $309.5 billion annually, according to IMS Health, including discounts, within the past year. This makes prescription drugs the fastest growing segment of the nation’s healthcare economy. At 12.2 percent, 2014 spending on drugs dwarfs the overall frank-magliochetti-2017-medical-trendsgrowth rate of healthcare spending and the rate of spending growth on physician and hospital care. The price of drugs, rather than utilization, is the predominant driving factor in this increased drug spending.

Spending on drugs rose 8.5 percent in 2015 but total prescriptions dispensed increased by a mere 1 percent. The pharmaceutical price inflation was 7.2 percent in 2015, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Producer Price Index (PPI), significantly outpacing both general inflation and medical inflation at 0.7 percent and 2.7 percent, respectively.

2017 Trends towards Higher Prices

2017 will probably see more increases in drug prices, and the rises costs will likely have a significant effect on consumers and healthcare providers. Price hikes will likely affect employees and young retirees in 2017. The results of Segal’s 2017 Health Plan Cost Trend Survey suggest prescription drug costs will rise 11.6 percent in 2017 for active employees and retirees under the age of 65, on top of 11.3 percent in 2016.

That is a huge leap for most Americans. More than 48 percent of all people living in the U.S. reportcdc-frankmagliochettireport taking at least one prescription drug in the previous month, according to statistics provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and more than 20 percent of Americans use three or more prescription medications. Health plan cost trends have slowed, according to the Segal survey, but they continue to outpace average wage increases and inflation by more than three time.

Patients carry an increasingly heavy financial burden when it comes to drug costs, and so do hospitals faced with difficult decisions regarding the allocation of scarce resources. Inpatient drug spending rose 23.4 percent on average, according to a report by theAmerican Hospital Association (AHA), and 38.6 percent per individual hospital admission. The report details the experience of one hospital that reported that last year’s price increases for just four common drugs were equivalent to the annual salaries of 55 full-time nurses there. Drug prices will likely continue to rise in unpredictable ways while reimbursement amounts from payors will probably increase only a small amount. Hospitals will continue the struggle of balancing resources in response to changes in the drug market.

The rise in specialty drug/biotech medications will be especially high in 2017 at 18.7 percent. While specialty drugs make up less than 1 percent of all medications, the 100 insurance providers responding to the Segal’s survey said that specialty drugs now account for 35 percent of total projected prescription drug cost increases for the next year.

Source

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-10-02/pfizer-raised-prices-on-133-drugs-this-year-and-it-s-not-alone

http://www.imshealth.com/en/about-us/news/ims-health-study-us-drug-spending-growth-reaches-8.5-percent-in-2015

http://www.bls.gov/ppi/ppidr201512.pdf

https://www.segalco.com/media/2716/me-trend-survey-2017.pdf

http://www.aha.org/content/16/aha-fah-rx-report.pdf

http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeutic.htm

 

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry  – .  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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5 Trends in New Medical Economy

December 13, 2016 By

5 Trends in the New Medical Economy-

Frank Magliochetti Report

Five key trends will shape the new medical economy, according to a November 2016 briefing report by the cloud-based healthcare IT solutions provider CareCloud.frankmagliochettireport
The medical economy is shifting away from fee-for-service and towards value-based care. The industry faces a host of new economic realities as various forces shape the business of medicine. Five trends in particular will influence the new medical economy.

Five Trends Shaping the Business of Medicine

1. Patients as payers
Patients will continue to seize control over their own healthcare costs as a response to skyrocketing out-of-pocket expenses and deductibles. Insurance deductibles have increased by 255 percent since 2006, according to a survey by InstaMed, and the average health insurance premium for family coverage has gone up by 83 percent since 2005. Because they pay out of their own pockets, consumers want the best treatment bang for their buck, including information about services, options, and treatment costs.
Patients are also becoming increasingly proactive in managing their own healthcare by gathering information on diagnosis, billing and treatments digitally. Nearly two out of three consumers participating in the InstaMed survey expressed interest in using Apple Pay or other mobile payment systems for healthcare bills. More than three out of four consumers prefer to pay their household bills through online payment channels. The internet frankmagliochettireport_medicaleconomytrendswill continue to be a rich source of information, health apps, data, and medical devices for patients. CareCloud predicts a surge in retail urgent care clinics and concierge practices that cater to consumer-minded patients.
2. Doctors as digital innovators
An increasing number of healthcare providers are adopting EHR systems, and are shifting from server-based systems toward cloud technology to take advantage of improved usability, faster upgrade cycles and more innovation. Providers will likely use more specialized technologies across multiple EHR platforms. Application programming interfaces (APIs) will help medical groups enhance services without having to replace entire base systems.
3. Fiscal stewardship
Hospitals and health systems will try to reduce costs as they shift towards value-based care and away from fee-for-service care. Financial stewardship promotes health in the general population by increasing overall access to care.
4. Entrepreneurs in medicine
Exciting opportunities are ahead for “doctorpreneurs” and other medical professionals who either build new medical groups or acquire existing ones. Medical entrepreneurship offers the twin benefits of earning profits and social good.
While private equity investors traditionally invest in medical groups promising high reimbursement potential, such as dermatology and pain management, today’s medical entrepreneurs are looking at primary care groups.
5. Information retains its crown as king
The push to digitize medical records coupled with the rapid shift to value-based care has created a mountain of information. The information benefits population health management by making healthcare proactive rather medicaleconomytrends-frankmagliochettithan reactive, identifying at-risk patients and promoting early intervention. The plethora of data and new technologies now allows each patient to create a custom care plan tailored to their medical history. The development of intelligent apps that leverage data and analytics tools will help manage and disseminate this information.
Changing regulations, patient engagements and new economic realities are driving healthcare towards a value-based, consumer-centric model. Healthcare technology will evolve to focus more on adaptability and innovation.

Source
http://on.carecloud.com/thenewmedicaleconomy.html
http://www.instamed.com/blog/trends-impacting-the-healthcare-payments-mar

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release new sites dedicated to the industry  – .  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Shingles on the Rise

December 9, 2016 By

Shingles on the Rise

Shingles is increasing in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and health experts are not quite sure why.
A recent retrospective study of 2,848,765 Medicare claims showed the incidence of shingles increased 39 percent from 1992 to 2010.
About Shingles
shingles_frankmagliochettireportNearly a third people in the U.S. will develop shingles, otherwise known as herpes zoster or simply “zoster,” during their lifetime. While most people who get shingles will develop it only once but some get the disease two or three times. The risk of shingles increases with age, especially after the age of 50. Children can get shingles, but it is uncommon.
Signs and symptoms of shingles include pain, itching, or tingling of skin just before the development of a painful rash of blister-like sores. Symptoms typically develop on one side of the body, often on the face or torso. Fever, headache, chills, and upset stomach may occur. Severe pain in the affected area, known as postherpatic neuralgia (PHN), is the most common symptom of shingles.
Shingles develops as the result of exposure to the varicella zoster virus (VZV), which is the same virus that causes varicella disease, also known as chickenpox. The virus remains dormant sensory ganglia after the individual recovers from varicella; the virus can reactivate to cause shingles years later.
Are Chickenpox Vaccinations Accelerating the Increase of Shingles?
Researchers are still working to understand why the virus reactivates. It appears that an individual’s risk for shingles increases as immunity to VZV declines, as happens with aging or with the development of immunodeficiency associated with certain illnesses or treatments.
Some research suggests that exposure to varicella disease can actually boost immunity to VZV and reduce the risk for reactivation as shingles. Other research does not show this effect and the results “reflects the uncertain influence of varicella circulation on zoster epidemiology.”
Rates of chickenpox fell dramatically in the years following the implementation of the childhood varicella vaccination program in 1996, leading some scientists to speculate that the rise in shingles in adults was the result of childhood vaccination against varicella. These researchers reasoned that adults exposed to children with the virus would build immunity against varicella, and that widespread vaccination of children would provide fewer opportunities for adult exposure.
Results from a recent CDC study seem to disprove this theory. Researchers in that study used Medicare data from 1992 to 2010 and found that shingles rates shingles_frankmagliochetti-reportwere rising even before the introduction of the varicella vaccine in 1996. Furthermore, zoster rates did not accelerate after the introduction of the program.
The researchers in the CDC study also looked for any link between state varicella vaccination coverage and zoster rates, and found that the rates of shingles did not accelerate as states increased vaccination coverage. In fact, the incidence of shingles was the same in states with high vaccination coverage as it was in states with low coverage.
Furthermore, countries without routine varicella vaccination programs are experiencing similar increases in shingles rates in adults.
Like the wild-type virus that occurs in nature, the attenuated vaccine virus can reactivate to cause shingles. Children who get the varicella vaccine appear to have a much lower risk for childhood shingles than children infected with the wild-type virus. Vaccinated children are also less likely to be infected with the wild-type virus, which is more likely to reactivate as shingles as compared to the weakened vaccine virus.
While scientists have yet to discover the reasons behind the increased incidence of shingles, it is clear that zoster vaccination can prevent many cases of shingles, both in adults and in children.

Source
http://www.cdc.gov/shingles/surveillance.html
http://annals.org/aim/article/1784289/examination-links-between-herpes-zoster-incidence-childhood-varicella-vaccination
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12057605
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2866606/
http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00039897.htm
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21217180

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release a new site dedicated to the industry.  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Smoking Statistics: Focus on the Northeast

December 5, 2016 By

Smoking Statistics: Northeast USA

Cigarette smoking is still the leading cause of preventable death in the United States, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), claiming more than 480,000 lives each year. Despite decades of anti-smoking campaigns, which have been largely successful at reducing the number of cigarette smoking and death rates associated with the habit, smokingstatistics-frankmagliochettireportabout 36.5 million Americans still smoke. About 1 in 5 deaths in the U.S. are associated with smoking. Smoking remains high in certain segments of the population and in certain areas of the country. Many states are trying to reduce their number of smokers by raising tax on cigarettes, and investing in tobacco cessation programs and tobacco prevention programs.
Young adults, males, people with low education levels and those living below poverty level, lesbians, gays and bisexuals, the disabled and individuals of certain races or ethnicities are more likely to smoke. About 13 percent of people aged 18 to 24 smokes and 17.7 percent of people aged 25 to 44 smoke.
Smoking Rates by Geography
The percentage of smokers has declined in the U.S. from 20.9 percent in 2005 to 15.1 percent in 2015. Current cigarette smoking was highest in the Midwest at 18.7 percent and lowest in the West at 12.4 percent. About 13.5 percent of people living in the Northeast smoke cigarettes.
A fact sheet released November 2017 by Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids presents state-specific tobacco-related data in very different ways. It ranks states according to adult smoking rates, adult smoking ranks, pregnant smoking ranks and annual smoking deaths. The report also looks at youth smoking rates, the number of kidsfrankmagliochettireport_smokingstatistics alive who will become smokers, and the number of children alive who will eventually die from smoking in each state. Finally, the chart lists the health costs associated with smoking, per pack tax rates and ranks, state financing for tobacco cessation programs, and tobacco prevention spending.
Kentucky has the highest adult smoking rate in the country at 25.9 percent, and the state has a relatively high percentage of pregnant smokers and youth smokers. This high smoking rate may be the result of the state’s relatively low per-pack price of $4.86. Utah has the lowest adult smoking rate at 9.1; retail price for a pack of cigarettes here is $6.43.
There is relatively low tobacco use in the Northeast; much of the low tobacco use there has to do with the relatively high per-pack price and hefty tax rates on cigarettes. At 13.5 percent, Connecticut and New Jersey are tied as the third lowest adult smoking rates in the country. Connecticut has the second highest cigarette tax rate in the nation – $3.90 per pack. New Jersey also has a high cigarette tax at $2.70 per pack.
The average price for cigarettes in Massachusetts is $9.08 per pack and the state charges $3.90 per pack in tax, the fourth highest tax in the nation. The high price of cigarettes pays off, though, as the state has the sixth lowest rate of adults smoking and one of the lowest youth smoking rates in the country.
Northeastern states and other states in the nation may continue to reduce smoking rates – and death rates associated with smoking – by increasing taxes on cigarette products and investing in tobacco cessation and prevention programs.

Source:
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/
https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/adult_data/cig_smoking/

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release a new site dedicated to the industry.  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Top Prescription Drugs Purchases and Trends of 2016

December 2, 2016 By Leave a Comment

Top Prescription Drugs Purchases and Trends of 2016

Nearly half of all Americans take at least one prescription drug each day, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the cost of many of the most popular and most important medications is rising.
risingprescriptioncosts_frankmagliochettiThe Price for Prescription Drugs is Rising
Each of the past three years have seen double-digit price increases, including average rises of 12.6 percent in 2014 and over 10 percent in 2015. The average price for prescription drugs has increased an average of 10 percent in the past year. Despite pushback from insurers, scrutiny from lawmakers and outcry from consumers, many pharmaceutical companies plan to increase the price of prescription drugs.
Prescription drug spending in the United States totaled about $457 billion in 2015, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), accounting for 16.7 percent of all U.S. health care spending. In the 1990s, only about 7 percent of health care spending went towards prescription drugs.
A Wall Street Journal analysis found that prices for 30 prescription drugs increased at eight times the rate of inflation, with an average price hike of 76 percent from 2010 to 2014. Retail prices for some commonly used prescription drugs increased faster than general inflation each year from 2006 to 2013, according to AARP, which translates into an annual cost of therapy of more than $11,000 for a consumer who takes a prescription medication regularly. The total was nearly three-quarters of the average Social Security retirement benefit of $15,526, almost half the median income of a person on Medicare, and nearly one-fifth of the median U.S. household income.
Most Common Prescriptions and Average Cost by State
SearchRx compiled a list of the average costs of prescription drugs by state. At an average price of $12.82 per prescription, Mississippi tops the list as the US state with the lowest average per prescription cost. Arkansas was also low at $12.93, followed by Virginia at $13.90 and Louisiana at $13.10. Hawaii was the most expensive state to fill a prescription, at an average of $19.47, followed by North Dakota at $19.07, Alaska at $18.96 per prescription, and Delaware at $18.51.

The website also lists the most commonly prescribed medications last year:
1. Atorvastatin Calcium (generic for Lipitor) – lowers cholesterol and reduces risk of heart attack, stroke, and other complications in patients with type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, or other risk factors
2. Levothyroxine (generic for Synthroid) – primary use is for the treatment of hypothyroidism but it is also used to treat or prevent goiter
3. Lisinopril (generic for Prinivil) – for hypertension or congestive heart failure
4. Omeprazole (generic for Prilosec) – treats symptoms of GERD
5. Metformin (generic for Glucophage) – improves blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes
6. Amlodipine (generic for Norvasc) – for hypertension or anginafrank-magliochetti-report-drug-pricing
7. Simvastatin (generic for Zocor) – lowers cholesterol and triglycerides
8. Hydrocodone/Acetaminophen (generic for Lortab) – relieves moderate to moderately severe pain
9. Metoprolol ER (generic for Toprol XL) – treats angina and hypertension
10. Losartan (generic for Cozaar) – treats hypertension and reduces the risk of stroke in those with heart disease
SearchRx also ranked pharmacy chains in order of least expensive to most expensive. Walmart was the least expensive, followed by Target, “other,” Rite Aid, and CVS. Walgreens was the most expensive on the list.
If current trends continue, 2017 will see higher prescription prices, increased health premiums, and continued increases in the number of Americans who take prescription drugs every day.
Source
http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/drug-use-therapeutic.htm

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/01/11/prescription-drug-prices-jumped-more-than-10-percent-in-2015/

http://time.com/money/4406167/prescription-drug-prices-increase-why/

https://aspe.hhs.gov/pdf-report/observations-trends-prescription-drug-spending

http://www.wsj.com/articles/for-prescription-drug-makers-price-increases-drive-revenue-1444096750

http://www.aarp.org/content/dam/aarp/ppi/2016-02/RX-Price-Watch-Trends-in-Retail-Prices-Prescription-Drugs-Widely-Used-by-Older-Americans.pdf

https://www.searchrx.com/blog/2016-prescription-prices-and-purchase-trends/

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release a new site dedicated to the industry.  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Filed Under: Featured, Frank Magliochetti Report, Healthcare Industry, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Trends, Medical Drugs, News Tagged With: , , ,

Medical 3D Printing Advancements

November 29, 2016 By 14 Comments

Advancements in Medical 3D Printing

Three-dimensional (3D) printing has been around since the 1980s, when Chuck Hull patented the mechanical process of printing successive layers of material to create objects. Known as stereolithography or additive manufacturing, the process quickly spread beyond industry into a number of sectors, including medicine.
3d-printing-and-health_frankmagliochettireportA 3D printer is similar to a standard computer printer except that, instead of ink, liquid plastic, metal, polyvinyl alcohol, and other materials flow through its print nozzles. 3D printers are unique in that the process can create three-dimensional solid-state objects made from a variety of materials. Printed objects can be as simple or as intricate as needed by the designer without requiring extra steps in the manufacturing process.
In 1999, surgeons grew a human bladder by layering human bladder cells onto 3D printed scaffold then later transplanted the bladder into the patient that donated the cells. In 2002, scientists used bio-ink replicating kidney tissue to print a functioning kidney.
There have been several major advancements since the earliest days of medical 3D printing. While it is still not possible to print out an entire organ suitable for transplant, it is possible to use three-dimensional printing to create scaffold for growing organs, grow tissues for laboratory testing, make skin grafts for burn victims, print sheets of cardiac tissue that beats like a heart, and more.
State of the Art Medical 3D Printing
Scientists from Harvard University recently made the first 3D printed organ-on-a-chip with integrated sensing, which allows researchers to collect reliable data during laboratory studies. These organs-on-chips, also known as medical-3d-printing_frankmagliochettireportmicrophysiological systems, closely match the properties of a specific disease or individual patient cells suitable for use in the laboratory. These chips simplify data acquisition and allow researchers to change and customize the study design system, opening new avenues for in vitro tissue engineering, toxicology and drug screening research.
Other researchers use direct laser writing to shape and form 3D printed undifferentiated stem cells to create complex 3D structures for various biomedical applications. Another company recently released a realistic-feeling 3D printed arm modelstudents can use to learn how to suture skin. The company, San Draw, had previously released a 3D printed arm model suitable for practicing injections. The 3D printed skin simulates the anatomy and feel of real human skin to improve student training.
3D printing presents nearly unlimited potential in the production of surgical instruments, including forceps, hemostats, scalpel handles, clamps, and even surgical smoke evacuators. 3D printed surgical tools come out of the 3d-printing_medical-frankmagliochettireportprinter completely sterile and ready to use, saving both time and money in sterilization, packaging and storage. Printed tools also cost one-tenth as much as stainless steel tools. 3D printing could therefore boost surgery access in low-income areas and reduce the risk of infection in areas with limited access to sterilizers.
Researchers can print out and expose various body tissues to chemicals and other substances to study the reaction of toxins on healthy tissue. Now scientists can print out cancer cells and other types of disease cells to study how tumors grow and develop, and to evaluate the effects of various treatments on those printed cells.
Research and development of medical 3D printing will likely accelerate as scientists find new uses for the additive manufacturing process and manufacturers learn new techniques for making medical and surgical products. 3D printers will certainly become more commonplace in the surgical suite and in laboratories in the coming years.

Source
https://3dprintingindustry.com/3d-printing-basics-free-beginners-guide/history/
http://www.nature.com/nmat/journal/vaop/ncurrent/full/nmat4782.html
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/309393081_3D_microfabrication_of_complex_structures_for_biomedical_applications_via_combination_of_subtractiveadditive_direct_laser_writing_and_3D_printing
https://3dprint.com/152558/san-draw-medical-suture-training/
https://3dprint.com/6652/3d-print-medical-tools/

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release a new site dedicated to the industry.  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

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Filed Under: Featured, Frank Magliochetti Report, Healthcare Industry, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Innovations, News Tagged With: , ,

Augmented Reality: A Disruptive Trend that is Changing Healthcare

November 23, 2016 By

Augmented Reality: A Disruptive Trend that is Changing Healthcare

Google Glass and other types of augmented reality (AR) never really took hold in the consumer market but the advanced technology is now poised to be a disruptive trend that will forever change healthcare for patients and providers.frankmagliochettireport_medicalaugmentedreality
A Q4 2016 report by ABI Research suggests augmented reality will gain momentum as medical professionals seek out new tools and technologies to improve care and outcome for their patients. The research firm suggests regulatory activity will push the medical profession towards AR.

About Augmented Reality in Medicine

Augmented reality is a live view of a real-world environment supplemented with computer-generated sounds, graphics or other sensory input. Unlike virtual reality, which entirely replaces the real world with a simulated one, augmented reality replaces only certain elements.
AR can include “see what I see” applications, education and training. “See what I see” apps can transmit what EMTs see to emergency department physicians. In medical applications, augmented reality applications can simulate how it would feel to have certain medical conditions.
frankmagliochetti_augmentedrealityinmedicineAR applications (apps) can help patients check visual symptoms against a medical database or share information in real time with their doctors. Patients with hearing problems can use AR apps and their smart phones to convert auditory information, such as the screech of brakes or a loudspeaker announcement on an airplane, into text displayed on the smart phone. AR apps can highlight maps of wheelchair-friendly routes when an individual visits a city for the first time.
Augmented reality can provide medical training to a large number of students, even those living in remote or impoverished areas. Students use AR to practice surgical techniques, or even allow experienced surgeons to practice procedures on a three-dimensional AR rending of a patient before performing the procedure on the actual patient.

Augmented Reality Applications are Already in Use

Eye Decide by OrcaMD is an educational application that could potential improve patient compliance. This education tool simplifies complex eye conditions and treatments in a way that improves knowledge, understanding and retention. Users can view the eyeball from any angle, with and without skin. Eye Decide also demonstrates the effects of cataracts, age-related macular degeneration (AMD), and other eye conditions, so that patients can see what a particular disease will eventually do to their vision without proper treatment.
AccuVein displays a map of a patient’s vein to make placing needles easier and more accurate. The healthcare practitioner uses a handheld scanner that detects heat radiating from the veins, converts information gathered about that heat into a map of the veins, and then projects this map onto the patient’s skin. AccuVein enjoys a 40 percent annual growth rate. By the middle of 2015, this augmented reality app had already helped more frankmagliochetti_report-augment-reality-healthcarethan 10 million patients. Sales will likely continue at a robust pace as patients and nurses demand the technology to reduce the average number of “sticks” involved in placing an intravenous (IV) needle.
Many legally blind people still have some vision but cannot see well enough to recognize faces, drive, read, or avoid obstacles in their path. VA-ST is a visor that combines a 3D camera with a computer to enhance vision by improving contrast, and highlighting edges and features. Users can even pause or zoom video for a clearer view. This technology will become more popular as the population of the United States ages and suffers age-related vision loss.
Like other industries, medicine leverages new technology to improve efficiencies and performance. The move from a per-service reimbursement structure towards one that focuses on quality of care will spur growth of augmented reality in medical settings.

Source
https://www.abiresearch.com/market-research/product/1025909-ar-in-telemedicine-training-and-first-resp/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/eye-decide-education-engagement/id454280553?mt=8
https://orcahealth.com/
http://www.accuvein.com/inf/
http://www.accuvein.com/2015/06/vein-visualization-emerges-as-premier-augmented-reality-application/
http://www.va-st.com/smart-specs/

Frank Magliochetti is Managing Partner for Parcae Capital.

  • North Andover, Massachusetts

This column of posts is directed at the Healthcare Industry.  Frank plans to release a new site dedicated to the industry.  He currently assists companies who are building, restructuring, transforming and resurrecting there business’s. An example of his client base are, Xenetic Biosciences , IPC Medical Corp, Just Fellowship Corp, Environmental Services Inc., Parsons Post House LLC, ClickStream Corporation as well as having a business talk radio show; The Business Architect on the URBN network.

frankmagliochetti_ParcaeCapital

Filed Under: Featured, Frank Magliochetti Report, Healthcare Industry, Healthcare Industry News, Healthcare Innovations, Healthcare Trends, News Tagged With: , , , ,
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